Democrats are up in arms following President Donald Trump’s social media post late Thursday night featuring an artificial intelligence-generated video that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama with their faces superimposed onto ape bodies. The video, shared on Trump’s Truth Social platform at 11:44 p.m. ET, ignited immediate and fierce backlash from lawmakers, civil rights organizations, and political figures across the spectrum.
The 62-second clip primarily promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, alleging that voting machines in battleground states were manipulated to favor Joe Biden. However, in the final few seconds, the video abruptly cut to a scene showing the Obamas as dancing primates in a jungle setting while “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” played in the background.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black party leader in Congress, delivered a blistering response on social media. He described President Obama and Michelle Obama as brilliant, compassionate, and patriotic Americans who represent the best of the country, while calling Trump a vile, unhinged, and malignant bottom feeder. Jeffries demanded that every single Republican immediately denounce what he termed Trump’s disgusting bigotry.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed similar sentiments, describing the post as racist, vile, and abhorrent. The New York Democrat questioned where Senate Republicans stood on the issue and insisted that Trump must immediately delete the post and apologize to the Obamas, whom he called two great Americans who make Trump look like a small, envious man.
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White House Response Shifts Course
Initially, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the post, dismissing criticism as fake outrage. In a statement issued Friday morning, Leavitt explained that the content came from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. She urged reporters to stop the manufactured controversy and report on something that actually matters to the American public.
The full original video, posted in October 2025 by the account @xerias_x, portrayed numerous Democratic leaders as various animals. Joe Biden appeared as a baboon, Kamala Harris as a tortoise, Chuck Schumer as a zebra, Hakeem Jeffries as a meerkat, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a donkey, and Hillary Clinton as a warthog. Trump himself was depicted as a lion. However, the version Trump shared on Thursday night included only the imagery of the Obamas.
By midday Friday, the White House dramatically changed its position. A White House official stated that a staffer had erroneously made the post and that it had been taken down. The post disappeared from Trump’s Truth Social account around noon Friday, approximately 12 hours after it was initially shared.
Bipartisan Condemnation Emerges
The controversy drew criticism not just from Democrats but from prominent Republicans as well. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican currently serving in the Senate and a close Trump ally, expressed his dismay on social media. Scott wrote that he was praying the video was fake because it was the most racist thing he had seen out of the White House, and urged the president to remove it.
Representative Mike Lawler of New York, a Republican facing a competitive reelection race, called the post incredibly offensive whether intentional or a mistake and demanded its immediate deletion along with an apology.
Senator Roger Wicker, another Republican, described the post as totally unacceptable and called on the president to take it down and apologize.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office described the video as disgusting behavior by the president and called on every single Republican to denounce it immediately.
Trump Refuses to Apologize
Despite the widespread condemnation and the post’s removal, President Trump declined to apologize when speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Friday evening. The president claimed he did not see the entire video before sharing it, stating he looked at thousands of things and only watched the beginning portion, which focused on voter fraud claims.
Trump insisted he did not make a mistake and explained that he saw the video and just passed it on, suggesting nobody reviewed the end of it. He told reporters that nobody knew the offensive imagery was at the end, and if they had looked, they probably would have had the sense to take it down.
When asked directly if he would apologize, Trump responded with a firm no. However, when pressed on whether he condemned the racist portion of the video, he answered that of course he did.
The president also mentioned speaking with Senator Tim Scott about the incident, calling Scott a great guy during his remarks to reporters.
Historical Context and Racial Implications
The imagery used in the video invokes deeply racist tropes with a long and painful history in America. For centuries, racists have depicted Black Americans as apes and monkeys as a means of dehumanization, a tactic used by slave traders, segregationists, and white supremacists throughout American history.
The timing of the post during Black History Month, which honors the accomplishments and contributions of Black Americans, added another layer of offense. Barack Obama made history as the nation’s first Black president, and Michelle Obama became the first Black first lady.
This incident represents only the latest in a series of racially charged moments involving Trump and the Obamas. During Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, Trump promoted false birtherism claims alleging that Obama was not born in the United States. Trump maintained these false assertions for years before finally acknowledging during his 2016 campaign that Obama was born in Hawaii, though he immediately and falsely blamed Hillary Clinton for starting the birtherism attacks.
Throughout his political career, Trump has faced accusations of using racially insensitive language and associating with controversial figures. During his 2024 campaign, he stated that immigrants were poisoning the blood of the country, language critics compared to rhetoric used by Adolf Hitler. In his first White House term, Trump reportedly referred to certain developing nations with majority Black populations using an explicit slur, which he initially denied but later admitted using in December 2025.
Civil Rights Organizations Respond
The NAACP issued a forceful statement condemning the post. National President Derrick Johnson called Trump’s video blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable. The organization emphasized that Trump posting such content, especially during Black History Month, serves as a stark reminder of how Trump and his followers truly view people, adding that they would remember this incident in November’s elections.
Civil rights advocates and political analysts noted that this incident fits into a broader pattern of Trump’s rhetoric and social media behavior. The president frequently shares memes and AI-generated videos that promote his political platform and public image, often pushing controversial content that generates significant attention.
Political Implications
The controversy arrives at a politically sensitive moment for Republicans. Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress have expressed concerns about retaining their slim majorities in both the House and Senate during November’s midterm elections. Some Republican lawmakers, particularly those in competitive districts, face punishing reelection campaigns ahead.
Representative Mike Lawler’s quick condemnation of the post reflects the precarious political position some Republicans find themselves in. Lawler represents a swing district in New York and cannot afford to be associated with racially offensive content that might alienate moderate and independent voters.
Democrats quickly seized on the incident to paint Trump and Republicans as out of touch and divisive. Democratic National Committee communications highlighted reactions from Trump supporters who expressed disappointment and embarrassment over the post. Three-time Trump voters were quoted as saying the president tells lies, takes bribes blatantly, and is now being racist blatantly.
Representative Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, wrote that every day, the president calls on Americans to join him in being the worst versions of themselves. He hoped that every elected official and American would refuse and join him in condemning what he called a vile, racist post.
House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts described it as an absolute embarrassment that the president continues to use a bully pulpit out of his own insecurity.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois called the video share sadly par for the course for a president who revels in his cruelty and racism. He questioned when Republicans would draw the line and call out such vile conduct.
Questions About Social Media Management
The incident raised questions about who controls Trump’s social media accounts and what review process exists before content is posted. The White House’s shifting explanations created confusion about the chain of events.
Initially, Press Secretary Leavitt defended the video as harmless internet meme content. Hours later, an unnamed White House official claimed a staffer erroneously posted it. That evening, Trump himself suggested he had seen the video and passed it on to someone else to post, contradicting the notion that it was posted entirely without his knowledge.
Mark Burns, a South Carolina pastor and longtime Trump supporter, said he spoke with the president about the post and recommended that the responsible staffer be fired immediately. Burns stated that Trump made clear the post was made by a staffer and not by him.
Some White House allies expressed frustration with how Press Secretary Leavitt initially handled the situation. According to sources with direct knowledge, there was anger about Leavitt either releasing a statement without fully grasping the situation or initially not finding the content problematic.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham pressed Leavitt Friday night about why Trump was not apologizing, noting that criticism came from Republicans as well as Democrats. Leavitt reiterated that Trump took down the post and characterized the entire affair as merely a distraction for the fake news media.
Obama Family Response
Representatives for the Obama family did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Obamas themselves have not publicly addressed Trump’s post on their social media accounts. Later Friday night, the Obamas made their first public statements since the incident, posting on social media to wish Team USA good luck at the Winter Olympics, without mentioning the controversy.
An Obama spokeswoman told reporters that the former president had no response to the incident.
This silence stands in stark contrast to the flood of commentary from politicians, activists, and public figures across the political spectrum who weighed in on the controversy throughout Friday.
Broader Pattern of Controversial Posts
This incident follows a pattern of Trump sharing AI-generated videos and controversial content on Truth Social. In October 2025, Trump shared a video from the same account that created the Obamas video. That earlier post showed Trump wearing a crown and flying a fighter jet dropping what appeared to be waste on protesters at a No Kings rally.
Last year, Trump also shared an AI-generated video depicting Obama sitting in the Oval Office before being arrested by agents as YMCA played in the background. The AI-generated Obama appeared wearing an orange jumpsuit behind bars.
Trump’s prolific social media use has been a defining characteristic of his political career. He co-founded Truth Social in February 2022 after being temporarily banned from other major platforms following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. On Truth Social, Trump frequently reposts memes, videos, and content created by supporters that amplify his messaging and attack political opponents.
Critics have regularly accused Trump of intentionally stoking outrage to distract from politically damaging domestic issues. The timing of this controversy coincides with the recent release of millions of files related to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, documents in which Trump’s name has featured prominently.
The video Trump shared on Thursday night was part of a flurry of late-night social media activity that included multiple posts promoting false claims about the 2020 election. In the minutes before sharing the video containing the Obamas, Trump twice shared an eight-minute video claiming the Republican Party was originally founded for the moral reason of stopping the expansion of slavery. Another post featured a TikTok video of a man accusing Democrats of being anti-Black folk.
Several other posts Trump shared that night promoted false claims of interference in the 2020 elections, including one appearing to accuse Michigan’s secretary of state of ballot stuffing. Trump has repeatedly spread lies denying his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 race, despite extensive evidence confirming the election’s integrity.
Just last week, Trump’s FBI searched and seized 2020 voter records from an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia, which county officials are now suing to retrieve.
The controversy over Trump’s Obama video demonstrates the ongoing tensions surrounding race, presidential conduct, and social media in American politics, with Democrats mobilizing the incident as evidence of what they describe as Trump’s divisive leadership style heading into crucial midterm elections.
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