Donald Trump has deleted a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes after a furious backlash from senior Republicans.
The clip, which the President shared late last night, focused on his accusations of fraud during the 2020 election.
At the end of the video, an AI clip flashes up showing the Obamas’ faces imposed on the bodies of apes, backed by The Tokens’ song The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
‘A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,’ a White House spokesperson told the Daily Mail on Friday, without naming the staffer it is holding responsible for the late night posting.
The U-turn comes just hours after press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on Trump’s swipe at the Obama family, accusing critics of ‘fake outrage.’
‘This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,’ Leavitt told the Daily Mail.
‘Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.’
Trump deleted his post after South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, called it ‘the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.’
The President received widespread backlash after he posted a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes
US President Donald Trump signs a funding bill to end a partial government shutdown in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 3
President Barack Obama (R) and first lady Michelle Obama walk across the South Lawn after returning to the White House on Marine One July 12, 2016 in Washington, DC
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C,. on February 5
The clip belongs to a pro-Trump account on X but was reposted by the President on his Truth Social platform.
Other prominent Republican senators joined Scott in demanding Trump take down the video.
Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi posted on X: ‘This is totally unacceptable. The president should take it down and apologize.’
Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska wrote: ‘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 apologize.’
Trump’s video sparked condemnation from the senators’ Democratic colleagues.
‘Disgusting behavior by the President,’ wrote California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office wrote on X. ‘Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.’
Democratic political strategist Adam Parkhomenko posted: ‘This is overt racism. Full stop. There’s no “misinterpretation” and no excuse. This is who he is, who he’s always been, and why he should never be anywhere near power again.’
Trump’s longstanding feud with Obama stretches back decades, beginning when he first promoted claims that the 44th president was born outside the United States.
Since starting his second term, Trump has intensified attacks against Obama on social media by accusing the former president of ‘treason’.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, walks to the Senate Chamber as the Senate votes on a series of government funding bills at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Friday, January 30
The President claimed Obama betrayed the US by spying on his presidential campaign over accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Trump has posted AI memes on Truth Social showing Obama’s arrest and imprisonment.
Trump’s video of the Obamas has been liked more than 2,500 times and reposted more than 1,100 times on Truth Social.
The Daily Mail has contacted the Obamas for comment.
