On Friday morning, President Donald Trump‘s official Truth Social account removed a video featuring a offensive visual of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama likened to apes, after widespread bipartisan demand for its elimination.
The portrayal of the Obamas, shared late Thursday via Trump’s official Truth Social account, was part of a video clip promoting a conspiracy theory regarding voting machines in the 2020 election. The post was active for roughly 12 hours.
During a media interaction with reporters aboard Air Force One late Friday, Trump stated that he would not apologize for the content. “I didn’t make a blunder,” he affirmed.
Trump indicated he hadn’t viewed the entire video, only the initial segment.
“I didn’t see the complete thing,” Trump commented. “I checked out the beginning, and it was mainly focused on voter fraud in the machines, illustrating how dishonest it is, how revolting it is. Then I shared it with the people. Typically, they watch the entire thing. But apparently, someone didn’t.”
When queried about denouncing the video, he answered, “Absolutely I do.”
The White House originally supported Trump’s statement.
“This originates from an internet meme video portraying President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as Lion King characters,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt remarked in an emailed statement when approached for comments on Friday morning.
“Please cease the artificial outrage and focus on something significant for the American populace today,” Leavitt added.
Later, the post was removed from Trump’s Truth Social account.
A White House official, granted anonymity, disclosed that a staffer mistakenly uploaded the video and that it had since been pulled down.
The White House did not promptly answer CNBC’s subsequent inquiries regarding the identity of the staffer and the frequency of posts from the president’s official accounts.
A source informed about the situation later conveyed to CNBC that Trump “had not seen that video before its posting.”
“Once he learned about it, he commanded its removal,” the source added.
Leavitt’s initial remarks included a link to a longer video shared on Oct. 24 from a pro-Trump meme account on X.
The full video, in addition to depicting the Obamas as apes, features other animals with the faces of notable Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In that video, Trump is represented as a lion. The background music features “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a strong supporter of Trump who is typically one of his reliable advocates, criticized the image shared on Trump’s account.
“Hoping it was fabricated because it’s the most contemptible thing I’ve witnessed from this White House,” the senator commented in a post on X.
“The President must take it down,” he stressed before the post was deleted.
Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican facing potential loss of his House seat in the upcoming election, also condemned Trump’s post.
“The President’s post is incorrect and exceedingly offensive — whether intentional or accidental — and should be retracted immediately along with an apology,” Lawler mentioned on X.
The Obama Foundation did not reply to CNBC’s request for comment.
The video that Trump reshared bore the watermark of an organization identifying itself as Patriot News Outlet.
CNBC contacted Patriot News Outlet via their email address, seeking commentary on the recent video, inquiries on its creator and intention, and feedback regarding the video’s removal from Trump’s Truth Social account.
In response, the group stated, “We are entirely unaware of anything President Trump might have posted, including any video purporting to be from Patriot News Outlet. I cannot respond to any of your inquiries for this reason [sic].”
“Do you have a link to the video or a copy of the video you can share?” the group asked.
Trump’s adversaries may attempt to leverage the post as an electoral issue in the upcoming midterm elections in November, even though it is still nine months away.
Congressional Republicans aligned with Trump are worried that they might fail to keep their narrow majorities in both the House and Senate in the upcoming November election.
The NAACP, in a post on X, remarked: “Trump sharing this video — particularly during Black History Month — is a glaring indication of how Trump and his supporters truly perceive people. And we will remember that in November.”
Democratic officials quickly urged other Republicans to denounce the post.
“President Obama and Michelle Obama are intelligent, compassionate, and patriotic Americans,” Jeffries stated on X. “They exemplify the finest of this nation. Donald Trump is a loathsome, unstable, and malignant opportunist.”
“Why are GOP leaders like John Thune still supporting this abhorrent individual? Every single Republican must swiftly reject Donald Trump’s appalling bigotry,” Jeffries added, referring to the Senate majority leader.
The press office for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, another Democrat mocked in the video, stated on X: “Repulsive actions by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Immediately.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., in his own post on X, declared, “This form of Jim Crow-era dehumanization is pathetic and a disgrace to the office.”
— CNBC’s Eamon Javers contributed to this article.
