Obama speaks out after Trump's sharing of racist video depicting him as an ape

Former U.S. president Barack Obama has addressed a racist video posted on Donald Trump’s Truth Social account, which depicted him and first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

The now-deleted video, which was posted on Feb. 5, promoted conspiracy theories about Trump’s 2020 election loss to president Joe Biden.

The Obamas appeared briefly with their faces edited onto apes’ bodies, accompanied by the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, according to U.S. news outlets.

The imagery drew swift condemnation across the U.S. political spectrum.

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican senator, described the post on X as "the most racist thing he had seen from the White House" and urged Trump to remove it.

The White House initially dismissed it as “fake outrage”, before saying a staff member posted it in error and subsequently took it down.

Obama's response

Obama addressed the incident publicly for the first time in an interview released on Feb. 14 with political podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen.

Without naming Trump directly, Obama criticised what he described as a breakdown in political norms.

"There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television," he said:

"There doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and respect for the office. That’s been lost."

He added that most Americans "find this behaviour deeply troubling" and suggested that voters would ultimately respond at the ballot box.

Obama also suggested that such messaging could hurt Republicans in future midterm elections.

Trump has said he stands by the broader claims in the video regarding election fraud, but told reporters he had not seen the offensive portion at the end.

The incident marks the latest controversy tied to Trump’s online activity.

U.S. media outlets have noted that Trump rarely deletes posts and has frequently shared conspiracy theories and manipulated content, including AI-generated clips targeting political opponents.

Trump has continued to repeat unfounded claims that he won the 2020 election instead of Biden.

Top image via Brian Tyler Cohen and AP on YouTube