Trump refuses to apologise after posting video depicting Obamas as apes

President Donald Trump has declined to apologise after sharing, and later deleting, a video widely condemned as racist.

The video, which focused largely on false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, included a clip at the end which depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

Posted to Trump’s Truth Social account late Thursday (Feb. 5), it remained online for nearly 12 hours before being removed on Friday (Feb. 6) amid outrage from lawmakers in both parties.

Speaking to U.S. reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday night, Trump insisted that he had not seen the offensive ending of the clip and that a staff member had posted it in error.

“I am, by the way, the least racist president you’ve had in a long time,” he added.

Video with racist imagery

The now-deleted minute-long video contained a brief clip showing the Obamas’ faces edited onto primates, accompanied by the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, according to American news outlets.

The imagery drew swift condemnation, including from senior Republicans.

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.

“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 called the post “incredibly offensive” and said an apology was necessary, while Senator Pete Rickett publicly demanded Trump take responsibility.

“Even if this was a ‘Lion King’ meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this. The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologise.”

Democrats were equally forceful in their response.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries denounced Trump’s behaviour as racist and malignant, calling him an "unhinged bottom feeder" while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer labelled the post “vile” and “abhorrent”.

The clip appeared to originate from a longer video posted on X last October 2025 by a user who framed Trump as a lion while depicting various Democrats as animals, reported NBC News.

In the original version, multiple political figures were shown in similar caricatured form, though the Truth Social version shared by Trump included only the Obamas.

A spokeswoman for the former first couple told CBS News that they were not commenting on the matter.

Trump rejects calls for apology

Despite condemnation from members of his own party, Trump maintained on Feb. 6, as cited by NBC News, that he would not apologise.

“No. I didn’t make a mistake... I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine.”

While he said he condemned the racist portion of the clip, he insisted the post was not his fault and described himself as “the least racist president” in a long time, reported CNN.

The White House initially defended the clip as an "internet meme video", but later admitted that a staff member had “erroneously made the post”.

Trump said he had watched only the opening portion of the video before passing it on to aides.

“Generally, they'd look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t, and they posted," Trump told NBC News.

He suggested that someone failed to review the full content before it was uploaded.

"We took it down as soon as we found out about it," he added. The video had remained up for nearly 12 hours before it was taken down.

White House initially dismissed criticism as “fake outrage”

The controversy also raised questions over the administration’s initial response.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had earlier sought to downplay the backlash and told NBC News:

“Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”

Leavitt repeated that the post had been removed and dismissed the controversy as a distraction being amplified by what she called the “fake news media”.

NBC News also reported that a White House ally said that there was frustration at Leavitt’s handling of the matter, particularly as the incident occurred during Black History Month, which recognises the achievements and contributions of Black Americans.

The source said Leavitt had “dropped the ball”, and that she had failed to fully understand the situation or did not initially recognise the imagery as problematic.

Latest episode in Trump’s controversial social media history

The incident is the latest in a series of controversies linked to Trump’s online activity.

CNN noted that Trump rarely removes social media posts, and has frequently shared conspiracy theories and manipulated content, including AI-generated clips targeting political opponents.

Last year, the president posted an apparent AI-generated video depicting Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office.

Trump has also continued to repeat unfounded claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent and that he had won it instead of Biden.

Top images via realdonaldtrump/Instagram, barackobama/Instagram