- The United States' president, Donald Trump, posted a video portraying Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys
- Democratic leaders condemned the clip as racist, while the White House dismissed the criticism as exaggerated
- Controversy adds to criticism over Trump’s anti-DEI
The United States President, Donald Trump, has ignited a backlash on Friday, February 6, after sharing a video that portrays former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
Democratic leaders swiftly condemned the clip as racist, while the White House dismissed the criticism as exaggerated, insisting the post, shared late Thursday, February 5, on Trump’s Truth Social account, was merely an “internet meme.”
Near the end of the one-minute video, which advances conspiracy theories about Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, the Obamas briefly appear with their faces superimposed on monkeys’ bodies as the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays.
The video also revives debunked claims that Dominion Voting Systems manipulated ballots to deny Trump victory and secure the presidency for Joe Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to AFP.
“Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public,” she added.
By early Friday, February 5, the post had garnered thousands of likes on Trump’s platform.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office reacted sharply, with its official X account stating: “Disgusting behaviour by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
Ben Rhodes, a former senior national security adviser to Obama, also criticised the imagery, writing on X: “Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a stain on our history.”
Obama, the only Black president in US history, endorsed Trump’s 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, during the campaign.
Trump’s political rise was partly fueled by the false and racially charged “birther” conspiracy questioning Obama’s birthplace, and the two men have maintained a tense rivalry since Obama’s presidency from 2009 to 2017.
Since returning to office, Trump has increasingly shared hyper-realistic but fabricated AI-generated visuals online, often praising himself while mocking critics, to energise supporters.
Last year, he posted an AI-created video depicting Obama being arrested in the Oval Office and later shared a clip of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake mustache and sombrero, which Jeffries labeled racist.
Trump has also faced criticism for his aggressive stance against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. One of his earliest moves in his second term was dismantling federal DEI initiatives, including in the military.
Efforts to eliminate what he calls “woke” policies have reportedly led to the removal of books on racial discrimination from military academies, drawing further concern from opponents who note that federal anti-discrimination measures grew out of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.