By EEW Magazine Newswire

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady **Michelle Obama** attend a public event. The Obamas have not commented on a video shared by President Donald Trump that has drawn bipartisan criticism.
**Credit:** Carolyn Kaster / AP

WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday denied that a social media video shared by President Donald Trump depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes was intended to be racist, even as the post drew swift condemnation from lawmakers across the political spectrum.

Mr. Trump shared the video to his Truth Social account late Thursday night. The clip, which runs just over a minute, promotes unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him. Near the end of the video is a brief segment showing the Obamas’ faces digitally superimposed onto the bodies of primates, accompanied by the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed criticism of the post, saying it was taken from an internet meme portraying Mr. Trump as the “King of the Jungle.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt | Evan Vucci/AP

“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. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something that actually matters to the American public.”

Mark Burns, a Black Republican pastor and longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, said Friday that he spoke directly with the president, who acknowledged the racist history of depicting Black Americans as primates and described the imagery as wrong and offensive. Burns said Mr. Trump told him the post was made by a staff member and not by him, and Burns in turn urged the staffer’s dismissal and a public condemnation.

The original video referenced by Leavitt was posted last October on X by a user identified as @xerias_x and appears to be generated using artificial intelligence. It opens with depictions of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. Other Democratic figures are also portrayed as animals, including former President Joe Biden as a primate, former Vice President Kamala Harris as a turtle, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a warthog, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a donkey, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer as a zebra. Mr. Trump is depicted as a lion.

However, the version shared by Mr. Trump included only the Obamas.

The Obamas have not commented on the video.

Lawmakers from both parties denounced the footage, with several Republicans urging the president to remove the post.

Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, called the video offensive and said he hoped it was not authentic.

“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” Scott wrote on social media. Scott is the longest-serving Black senator in U.S. history and currently chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, also criticized the post.

“The President’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered,” Lawler said.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York accused Republicans of failing to confront what he described as blatant bigotry.

“President Obama and Michelle Obama are brilliant, compassionate, and patriotic Americans,” Jeffries wrote. “They represent the best of this country.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a frequent critic of the president, also condemned the video, calling it “disgusting behavior” and urging Republicans to denounce it.

The video once again amplifies Mr. Trump’s repeated assertions that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, claims that have been rejected by courts and election officials.

Dozens of lawsuits filed by Mr. Trump and his allies seeking to overturn the election results were dismissed by federal judges. Former Attorney General Bill Barr said the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread fraud that would have altered the outcome.

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