In a shocking display of racism, former President Donald Trump posted and then quickly deleted a video that depicted Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes on his social media platform Truth Social. The move sparked widespread outrage across the political spectrum.
The video, which was meant to promote conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, featured the Obamas alongside other notable Democrats in an internet meme video originally depicting former President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats from The Lion King. However, many saw the racist context and implications that this image had on African Americans.
Even Republicans are speaking out against this kind of content. Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska said, "The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize." Republican Senator Tim Scott described the video as "the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House" and even prayed it was fake.
The clip shows former President Obama and his wife Michelle being depicted as apes, echoing racist imagery that has long demonized Black people. More lawmakers have weighed in on the issue, with Rep. Mike Lawler saying Trump's post was "wrong and incredibly offensive," and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker calling it "totally unacceptable."
This incident is not an isolated case for Trump's handling of racist content. In a similar situation last year, the White House defended AI-altered images and misleading posts as "memes."
The video, which was meant to promote conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, featured the Obamas alongside other notable Democrats in an internet meme video originally depicting former President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats from The Lion King. However, many saw the racist context and implications that this image had on African Americans.
Even Republicans are speaking out against this kind of content. Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska said, "The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize." Republican Senator Tim Scott described the video as "the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House" and even prayed it was fake.
The clip shows former President Obama and his wife Michelle being depicted as apes, echoing racist imagery that has long demonized Black people. More lawmakers have weighed in on the issue, with Rep. Mike Lawler saying Trump's post was "wrong and incredibly offensive," and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker calling it "totally unacceptable."
This incident is not an isolated case for Trump's handling of racist content. In a similar situation last year, the White House defended AI-altered images and misleading posts as "memes."
I mean, come on... this is like something straight outta a dystopian movie! 
Trump's got some serious nerve posting that video and thinking he can just delete it and move on. Like, no one's born yesterday, Donald. The damage is done. And what really gets me is that the White House tried to downplay the whole thing by calling it an "internet meme". Are they kidding me? 
That's not a meme, that's hate speech! And for him to try and spin this as some kind of joke... please. The whole thing reeks of desperation and racism. I'm surprised more people haven't spoken out against it already. This is just another example of how far Trump will go to try and manipulate the narrative and divide us. 
And what's with the deleted video anyway? Did he really think it was a good idea to try to shame Obama and his wife in front of the entire world? 
The fact that Republicans are speaking out against this is pretty telling – maybe Trump needs to take some cues from within his own party. 
His own party is distancing themselves from him, and honestly, can we blame them?! 
and senator ricketts saying the white house should apologize is like, totally on point 
i mean we all make mistakes but this kinda hate speech is just unacceptable 0/10 would not forgive & forget 
- I mean, if you're gonna post something that racist and then delete it without apologizing or even acknowledging your mistake... what does that even say about your character? It's like you think you can just erase the hate you spread and nobody will be any wiser.
. And on a bigger scale, this whole issue with memes and AI-altered images raises some interesting questions about online etiquette...
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. We've all been there, right? Well, I guess some people are more willing to call out Trump for his actions than others 
. It's interesting how many Republicans are finally speaking up against this kind of stuff, even if it's a bit late in the game 
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what is going on with this guy ?? he can't even post something without it being super hurtful to people 
at least some of them are, i guess. like seriously though, how hard is it to not make jokes about someone's appearance or family?!? this kind of stuff just creates more division and hurt in the world. and what's with all these "memes" that can be super hurtful 
. Like, who does that? 
. And honestly, I'm not surprised - the guy's been making headlines for all the wrong reasons since Day One 
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. Now his post is gone, but the damage has been done 
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this guy trumps decision to post that video was super reckless i dont think its cool how hes just deleted it though hopefully he can learn from his mistake now but honestly shouldve been more careful before hitting send btw why do we still need to point out when people make racist jokes on the internet
... like that's a valid excuse for racism? And what really gets me is how quickly he deleted it - did he think we wouldn't notice or something? Anyway, I think Trump needs to own up to his mistake and apologize properly. This kind of behavior isn't just hurting him, but the entire country