A video posted by President Donald Trump's Truth Social account contained a racist depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
At the end of the 62-second video—otherwise about voting machines—the Obamas' faces appear on apes' bodies for about 1 second as The Tokens' song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" plays.
The video was posted to the account shortly before midnight ET.
The edited image of the Obamas, both Democrats, carries a watermark @XERIAS_X, which corresponds with a Trump-supporting X account with about 46,000 followers.
Given the bulk of the video is about elections, it is not clear if Trump watched the whole video and was aware of the content shared at the end.
Why It Matters
Political polarization online has increased in the last few years, sparking conversations about the balance between free speech and offensive discourse.
What To Know
The 62-second video, which appears to have originated from the website Patriot News Outlet claimed Michigan officials had accessed voting tabulators that showed potential election interference. It comes amid Trump's continuous unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was beset with electoral fraud and other issues, meaning former president Joe Biden's win was false.
Trump and his administration have repeatedly criticized Obama during the president's second term in office.
In July, he accused the former president of "treason" after Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, released a report alleging that Obama and members of his administration manufactured intelligence regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump also reposted an AI-generated video to Truth Social, which showed Obama being arrested and put in jail.
In a statement at the time, Obama's office called the accusations "bizarre" and said they "are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."
A report by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) found Obama received a surge in online death threats after the accusations. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Newsweek at the time that Trump and his administration "strongly condemn all forms of violence."
Trump also hit out at Obama's 2009 Nobel Peace Prize award amid his own unsuccessful campaign to get the accolade. "He got elected and they gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying out country," he said in October.
Meanwhile, Trump's use of social media has drawn past scrutiny. In 2021, he was banned from Facebook and Twitter, now X, after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This led to the president forming Truth Social. His Facebook and Twitter accounts were later reinstated.
How Have People Reacted?
On X, various public figures condemned the video. Harry Sisson, a liberal social media influencer with over 374,000 followers, called it "incredibly racist and disgusting."
Former professional tennis player Martina Navratilova wrote on X: "Both Michelle and Barack have the IQ twice as high as trump if not more and he posts this racist s***????"
Ben Rhodes, an Obama administration staffer and co-host of the foreign policy podcast Pod Save the World, wrote on X: "Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a stain on our history."
What Has The White House Said?
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded early Friday in a statement shared with Newsweek, dismissing backlash to the video clip but not directly addressing criticism that the imagery echoed racist tropes.
"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."
Leavitt also shared a 55-second video posted by the @XERIAS_X account in October, which appears to be where the Obama video was taken from.
In this video, the "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" plays as various politicians and celebrities appear, depicted as wild animals, including former Vice President Kamala Harris as a tortoise, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as a meerkat and Whoopie Goldberg as a hippopotamus. Trump is depicted as a lion.
What People Are Saying
"Disgusting behavior by the President," Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a post on X, reacting to the video. "Every single Republican must denounce this. Now."
X account Republicans against Trump wrote on X: "Trump just posted a video on Truth Social that includes a racist image of Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys. There’s no bottom."
In a polarized era, the center is dismissed as bland. At Newsweek, ours is different: The Courageous Center—it's not "both sides," it's sharp, challenging and alive with ideas. We follow facts, not factions. If that sounds like the kind of journalism you want to see thrive, we need you.
When you become a Newsweek Member, you support a mission to keep the center strong and vibrant. Members enjoy: Ad-free browsing, exclusive content and editor conversations. Help keep the center courageous. Join today.
Conversation
Start a discussion, not a fire. Post with kindness. Read our guidelines here
All Comments