US President Donald Trump has released a short video depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as monkeys. The post has sparked outrage among Democrats and some Republicans, who have called it blatant racism. The White House called the criticism “fake outrage” but later deleted the post.
Trump posted the video on the social network Truth Social.
The two-second video shows smiling Obama faces superimposed on monkeys swaying to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The clip is accompanied by claims that Trump's 2020 presidential election victory was stolen.
Trump's post was sharply criticized by members of the US Democratic Party. California Governor Gavin Newsom called on Republicans to condemn the publication.
“This is blatant racism. Period. There is no 'misinterpretation' or justification here,” noted political strategist Adam Parkhomenko.
The only black Republican in the US Senate, Tim Scott, called Trump's post racist and said he should delete it.
“I pray this is fake because this is the most racist thing I've seen in this White House. The president should take it down,” he said.
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt called criticism of the video “fake outrage,” noting that it was just an internet meme depicting Trump as the “king of the jungle” and Democrats as characters from the cartoon The Lion King.
However, shortly before noon, an official told CNN that a White House staffer had allegedly created the post in error.
“It was removed,” the interlocutor added.
By that time, the video had been up for nearly 12 hours. A Senate Republican official said Republican lawmakers had called Trump to discuss the post.