White House takes down Trump's racist video depicting Obamas as apes amid outrage

A video posted on Donald Trump’s social media account, showing Democratic former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes, was deleted on Friday following outrage that the US president’s post used racist imagery historically employed to dehumanise people of African descent.

According to a Reuters report, a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “A White House staffer erroneously made the post”, adding, "It has been taken down.”

Hours after White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt called the backlash to the video “fake outrage,” including criticism from several prominent Republican lawmakers, the White House issued a statement.

Late Thursday, Trump had shared a one-minute video reinforcing his false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud. The clip featured an apparently AI-generated segment of dancing primates with the Obamas’ faces superimposed.

Outrage

The post on Trump’s Truth Social platform quickly sparked condemnation from leading political figures, including Republican Senator Tim Scott, a Black ally of Trump.

Senator Tim Scott wrote on X, “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House, “The President should remove it.” Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York was among many other prominent political figures who called on Trump to apologise and delete the post.

Before the clip was taken down, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said it came “from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King". The video also featured a song from the musical.

For centuries, white supremacists have portrayed people of African descent as monkeys to dehumanise and oppress Black populations, the report noted.

"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," said Ben Rhodes, a former Obama aide, on X.

Trump has a record of promoting racist rhetoric, including the false claim that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. In December, he called Somalis "garbage" who should be expelled from the country and has referred to that and other developing nations as "shithole countries." He also faced criticism last year for editing an image of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is Black, with a superimposed handlebar mustache and a sombrero.

Civil rights advocates note that Trump’s rhetoric has grown increasingly bold, normalised, and politically acceptable.

Derrick Johnson, national president of the NAACP, in an emailed statement, said, "Donald Trump’s video is blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable. Voters are watching and will remember this at the ballot box."

Last year, Trump shared an artificially generated video depicting Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office and shown behind bars wearing an orange jumpsuit, as per AP.

Since his return to the White House, Trump has faced criticism from opponents for spearheading a campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Federal anti-discrimination programs in the US originated from the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, largely led by Black Americans, seeking equality and justice after centuries of slavery. Following the abolition of slavery in 1865, other institutional forms of racism continued to be enforced.