President Donald Trump has faced intense backlash from Illinois Democrats after he shared a racist video that depicts former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as primates in a jungle on social media.
The video, which was removed shortly after it was posted, included footage of voting machine tampering allegations in battleground states, before suddenly showing two primates with the Obamas' smiling faces superimposed over them. The depiction is a classic example of the racist trope that has been used to dehumanize Black people for centuries.
"Illinois Democrats are not just condemning this video, they're also condemning the President himself," said Governor JB Pritzker in response. "Donald Trump is a racist." The Democratic Party of Illinois released a statement urging Republicans to speak out against the video, calling it "a calculated choice and a disgrace."
The party's statement was echoed by US Senator Tim Scott, who wrote on X that he had seen more racist content coming from the White House than any other. He called for Trump to remove the video.
Senator Dick Durbin described the video as a "scurrilous attack" on the Obama family and said it was beneath the dignity of the office of the President to issue such an attack. Meanwhile, Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin said that Trump's behavior is "traumatizing" for Black communities.
Trump did not comment on the video in his post, which comes as Black History Month has just begun and days after a presidential proclamation celebrating the contributions of black Americans to national greatness.
This latest controversy highlights Trump's long history of making racist and bigoted comments. Last year, he posted an AI-generated video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and listening to a mariachi band, which was defended by Vice President JD Vance as a joke gone wrong. However, Jeffries called it "racist" and "bigoted".
The backlash against Trump's racist video has led some Democrats to call for him to apologize and take action to address the harm caused by his words. As Senator Durbin noted, "I'm sorry" is not something you hear coming from Trump.
The video, which was removed shortly after it was posted, included footage of voting machine tampering allegations in battleground states, before suddenly showing two primates with the Obamas' smiling faces superimposed over them. The depiction is a classic example of the racist trope that has been used to dehumanize Black people for centuries.
"Illinois Democrats are not just condemning this video, they're also condemning the President himself," said Governor JB Pritzker in response. "Donald Trump is a racist." The Democratic Party of Illinois released a statement urging Republicans to speak out against the video, calling it "a calculated choice and a disgrace."
The party's statement was echoed by US Senator Tim Scott, who wrote on X that he had seen more racist content coming from the White House than any other. He called for Trump to remove the video.
Senator Dick Durbin described the video as a "scurrilous attack" on the Obama family and said it was beneath the dignity of the office of the President to issue such an attack. Meanwhile, Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin said that Trump's behavior is "traumatizing" for Black communities.
Trump did not comment on the video in his post, which comes as Black History Month has just begun and days after a presidential proclamation celebrating the contributions of black Americans to national greatness.
This latest controversy highlights Trump's long history of making racist and bigoted comments. Last year, he posted an AI-generated video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and listening to a mariachi band, which was defended by Vice President JD Vance as a joke gone wrong. However, Jeffries called it "racist" and "bigoted".
The backlash against Trump's racist video has led some Democrats to call for him to apologize and take action to address the harm caused by his words. As Senator Durbin noted, "I'm sorry" is not something you hear coming from Trump.
? it's not even a subtle joke anymore, it's full-on racist undertones... i mean what was he thinking posting that video when black history month is literally happening?? 
anyway, gonna have to side with the democrats on this one, trump needs to take responsibility for his actions and maybe apologize or something 
like we're in 2025 and still having to deal with racist vids being shared by presidents? what's the point of even having a 'big league' player if they're just gonna perpetuate hate speech? 
trump's gotta be trolling us at this point, right? that AI-gener video from last year was already cringeworthy... and now this primates vid is like the ultimate low. 
. Illinois Democrats are totally right to be all up in arms about this, it's not just the video itself, it's what it says about the person who shared it.
It's not funny, dude. It's racist and it needs to stop now.
This latest controversy just shows how far we've fallen with Donald Trump 
He's always been a master of pushing boundaries and testing what's acceptable, but to go as low as sharing a racist video like this? No excuse, right? 
I'm not surprised the Illinois Democrats are speaking out against him. It's time for some accountability.
Like that AI-generated video with Hakeem Jeffries, which was basically just a joke to him but was hurtful to others. It's time for some real accountability here.
. We need leaders who can promote unity and respect, not division and hate. Can't we do better than this? 
He thought sharing that racist video would be funny or whatever but instead he's getting roasted 
like a marshmallow over an open flame 
Illinois Democrats and other politicians are right to call him out on this one, and I'm not surprised they're saying he's a racist 
And what's up with all these controversies surrounding this guy? Last year he was making fun of Hakeem Jeffries in an AI-generated video... 
meanwhile, Black History Month has begun and days after a presidential proclamation celebrating black Americans' contributions... can't wait to see how Trump handles the apology demands 
ilinois democrats are right to condemn him and i'm so tired of trump saying sorry all the time it's always an excuse or a joke or something 
anyway ugh let's just say trump is officially out of the running for being a decent human being in my book