President Donald Trump has taken down a racist video of Barack and Michelle Obama depicted as apes and blamed a staffer for the post.
The move came 12 hours after the president blasted the incendiary image across social media, which depicted the faces of former president Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama superimposed onto the bodies of animated apes.
The image immediately sparked widespread anger across social media and a bizarre attempt by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to justify the actions of her boss.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from ‘The Lion King’,” she said.
“Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
However, a few hours after Leavitt’s defense, the Truth Social post was gone.
CNN White House correspondent Alayna Treene reported Friday that an unnamed senior White House official had told her: “A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. It is yet to explain how the post was “erroneously” made and who, if not the president, blasted it out during his wild overnight posting spree, which involved no fewer than 66 posts between 10:36 p.m and 12:25am.
The sudden disappearance of the post also came after Republican Senator Tim Scott, a key Trump ally, broke ranks with the president over the video and demanded the president take down the “racist” image.
The South Carolina Republican expressed his disgust on social media on Friday, making him the first prominent pro-Trump Republican to publicly condemn the president’s actions.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it,” Scott said.
This was soon followed by Republican Roger Wicker, who wrote: “This is totally unacceptable. The president should take it down and apologize.”
The 60-second clip that Trump posted depicts the Obamas dancing in a jungle setting to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” while Trump is shown as a lion.
But comparisons of Black people to apes or monkeys have long been used by white supremacists and extremist groups, making the imagery especially incendiary given the president’s history of racially charged rhetoric.
During his political career, Trump has singled out Black athletes who knelt during the national anthem to protest systemic racism, pushed “birther” conspiracy theories about Barack Obama, and last year shared digitally altered images and videos of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake mustache and a sombrero—imagery Jeffries publicly described as racist.
Nonetheless, Trump insists, “I’ve done more for Black Americans than anybody with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.”
“Nobody has even been close,” he said while campaigning to return to the White House last year.
Civil rights advocates, Democratic lawmakers, and anti-hate organizations condemned the meme within hours.
“President Obama and Michelle Obama are brilliant, compassionate and patriotic Americans. They represent the best of this country. Donald Trump is a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder,” Jeffries wrote on X.
“Every single Republican must immediately denounce Donald Trump’s disgusting bigotry.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom agreed, lashing out at the video and the deafening silence of MAGAworld.
“Disgusting behavior by the President,” the Democratic Governor’s office said on X. “Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
Trump himself has not said anything about the video, and after it mysteriously disappeared, he continued posting on his Truth Social account.
One post attacked former White House lawyer Ty Cobb, while another touted his White House renovations.
“Just had my first meeting with the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, and it went really well — Terrific people who adore the Building, and love our Country even more,“ Trump wrote.
“Toured them in and around the Lincoln Bedroom, the Queens’ Room, the Yellow Oval, the Map Room, the East Room, and more. They loved it all. The White House, after many years, is being cherished, and properly taken care of!
While the president is said to spend hours scrolling his own Truth Social platform, not every post that bears his name necessarily comes straight from him.
Two other trusted aides are known to help the president craft his “Truths”: White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and former One America News personality Natalie Harp.
But many critics didn’t buy the fact that a staffer was responsible.
“They really think we’re stupid,” said Brian Allen, founder of Allen Analysis.
“This “oops, it was a staffer” excuse might work on MAGA, but anyone with a functioning brain past the 5th-grade level sees it for what it is: They posted it. They defended it. They got backlash. Now they’re lying. Same playbook. Every time."
