President Donald Trump ignited a fresh firestorm of criticism this week after sharing a video on his Truth Social account that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys. The imagery—rooted in one of the most demeaning and common racist tropes—drew swift condemnation from across the political spectrum, highlighting the severity of Trump’s reprehensible behavior.
The roughly one-minute video, which circulated on Truth Social late Thursday night, spent much of its runtime promoting baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. But towards the end of the video, a clip shows the Obamas’ faces superimposed onto primate bodies while the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays in the background.
The comparison of Black public figures to apes and monkeys isn’t an innocuous joke; it is a centuries-old racist caricature used to dehumanize people of African descent and justify systemic discrimination. In any other context, such imagery would be universally condemned. However, for it to be shared by the sitting president of the United States, it is unconscionable.
Newsom: ‘Disgusting Behavior By The President’
California Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t mince words in his response, describing the post as “disgusting behavior by the President” and urging “every single Republican” to denounce it. Republican Senator Tim Scott, one of the most prominent Black lawmakers in the country, labeled the footage “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” and publicly pleaded with Trump to remove it.
The White House’s response to the backlash, as expected, dismissed legitimate concerns and brushed aside the glaringly racist imagery within the video. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the post as stemming from an “internet meme” and lashed out at critics for engaging in “fake outrage.” Despite Leavitt’s callous response, the video was taken down from Trump’s Truth Social account on Friday.
This episode isn’t an isolated misstep; it is part of a pattern in which Trump has amplified racially charged, demeaning content. Last year during the government shutdown, Trump came under fire for a similar incident with a video showing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and an exaggerated mustache.
Whether intentional or not, the effect is the same: it normalizes a brand of political communication that is divisive, harmful, and beneath the dignity of the nation’s highest office.
