President Donald Trump shared a video depicting the Obamas as apes in a series of late-night social media posts Thursday.
The video, shared on Trump’s Truth Social account, discussed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Near the end of the video, a short clip of the Obamas portrayed as apes is spliced in with “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” playing in the background. The video remained on Trump’s account for much of Friday morning.
Early Friday, White House Press Secretary told the Associated Press, “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
The post was later deleted and blamed on a staffer after backlash from Democrats and Republicans, including South Carolina’s Tim Scott, the U.S. Senate’s lone Black Republican. “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” said Scott, who chairs Senate Republicans’ midterm campaign arm.
Trump addressed the video while taking questions from reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday night. When asked if he’s going to apologize, Trump said, “No, I didn’t make a mistake,” adding that he didn’t see the whole video.
The ape comparison is described by The New York Times as “one of the oldest and most profoundly racist slanders in American history.”
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