Washington was rocked this week when a video posted on President Trump’s social media account showed former President Barack Obama.
First Lady Michelle Obama appeared as apes.
Yes, you read that right. The post, which appeared on Truth Social late Thursday, was swiftly condemned as invoking deeply racist imagery.
Even some Republicans were not holding back.
Initially, the White House defended the clip. Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt called the backlash “fake outrage.”
But just 12 hours later, the video was removed. “A White House staffer erroneously made the post,” an official explained.
A Trump adviser added that the president hadn’t seen it before it went up and ordered it taken down once he did.
The minute-long video mixed false claims that Trump’s 2020 election loss was due to fraud.
It included a short, apparently AI-generated segment of dancing primates with the Obamas’ heads superimposed.
Racist Post Sparks Backlash
Bipartisan criticism poured in, including from Republican Senator Tim Scott.
He tweeted: “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it.”
Trump, of course, has a long history of racially charged rhetoric, including pushing the false “birther” conspiracy against Obama.
This latest misstep raises an obvious question: when your staff posts content like this, is it an isolated mistake—or a reflection of a pattern?
Either way, the clip’s removal doesn’t erase the headlines.
