President Donald Trump declined to issue an apology on Friday for a video shared on his Truth Social account that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys. The White House later attributed the post to a staff error, despite facing widespread criticism across the political spectrum in the United States.
Trump, aboard Air Force One, asserted that he saw no fault in the post when questioned about a potential apology. Addressing the racist imagery in the video, Trump stated that he unequivocally condemned it.
Democrats condemned Trump for the video, which briefly showed the Obamas with monkey faces, labeling it as a racist attack on the first Black president and first lady in US history. A senior Republican senator also criticized the video as blatantly racist.
The video, included in a series of posts late Thursday night, perpetuated false claims regarding the 2020 election loss of Republican Trump to Joe Biden, accusing Dominion Voting Systems of election fraud.
Initially downplaying the controversy, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to the images as part of an internet meme video portraying Trump as the “King of the Jungle” and Democrats as characters from “The Lion King.” However, the White House later acknowledged the error, attributing the post to a staff member and promptly removing it from Trump’s account.
Trump, while supporting the video’s claims of election fraud, claimed he had not viewed the offensive segment. He indicated that he only saw the beginning of the video and delegated its posting to staff members who also did not watch the entire content.
No immediate response was received from the Obamas regarding the video.
