What to Know
President Donald Trump is at the center of a firestorm after he posted a video featuring AI-generated depictions of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.
On Thursday, just before midnight, Trump shared a 72-second election conspiracy video on his Truth Social account. The video ends with a racist depiction of the Obamas, the first Black president and first lady in U.S. history, showing their heads on ape bodies.
The clip Trump shared is from an AI-generated video created by X user @xerias_x, a MAGA-affiliated meme account.
As documented by the Jim Crow Museum, the video Trump posted is similar to previous racist attacks against the Obamas that drew from centuries-old tropes comparing “Africans and Americans of African ancestry to monkeys and apes.”
“A quick trip to the Jim Crow Museum will reveal evidence of the long and insulting history of simian representation of Africans and African Americans,” museum founder and curator David Pilgrim wrote in 2008. “There are postcards that show African Americans as almost indistinguishable from monkeys and apes. There are prints that show Blacks and monkeys romantically involved.”
Trump has had a historically antagonistic relationship with Obama. That has included his commissioning of new White House presidential plaques disparaging Obama as “one of the most divisive political figures in American History.”
But Trump’s latest attack hit like a thunderbolt, sparking calls of racism and bigotry from Democratic politicians and critics of his administration.
In a statement issued Friday morning, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the criticism as “fake outrage,” according to Axios.
“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 said in a statement. Trump’s post did not include the video as Leavitt described—only the short portion featuring the Obamas as dancing apes.
Despite Leavitt’s characterization, the outcry across social media was swift and widespread.
“Disgusting behavior by the President,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X. “Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) said Trump’s “disgusting and disgraceful” post showed “who he has always been: racist to his core and rotten in his soul.” Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Herb Conaway (D-N.J.) were among the other Democrats who called Trump’s post racist.
Liberal activist Harry Sisson said the video was “incredibly racist and disgusting.” Ben Rhodes, Obama’s former speechwriter, decried the rhetoric of Trump and anyone who supports it.
“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,” Rhodes posted on X.
The Republicans Against Trump X account shared a screenshot of the president’s post, saying “there’s no bottom.”
Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko said Trump’s post was evidence of “overt racism.”
“There’s no ‘misinterpretation’ and no excuse,” Parkhomenko wrote on X. “This is who he is, who he’s always been, and why he should never be anywhere near power again.”
Leavitt did not say whether Trump would take down his post or issue an apology. The Obamas did not immediately comment on the video.
Nick Moyle; nj.com; (TNS) | ©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
