US President Donald Trump has provoked widespread outrage after sharing a video that portrays former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as monkeys, reigniting accusations of racism and deepening political tensions.
The controversial video, posted late Thursday on Trump’s Truth Social platform, briefly shows the Obamas’ faces superimposed on the bodies of monkeys during a one-minute clip that promotes conspiracy theories surrounding Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The scene lasts about one second and is accompanied by the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Leading Democrats swiftly condemned the post as racist. However, the White House dismissed the backlash, describing it as exaggerated and insisting the video originated from an “internet meme.”
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to AFP. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public,” she added.
The video also repeats false claims that Dominion Voting Systems manipulated ballot counts to deny Trump re-election and hand victory to Joe Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president. Despite repeated court rulings and official investigations debunking the allegations, Trump continues to promote the narrative.
By early Friday, the post had already attracted thousands of likes on Truth Social.
The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom, a prominent Trump critic and possible Democratic presidential contender in 2028, issued a sharp rebuke. “Disgusting behaviour by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now,” Newsom’s press office wrote on X.
Ben Rhodes, a former senior national security adviser to Obama, also condemned the imagery. “Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a stain on our history,” he wrote.
Barack Obama, the only Black president in US history, actively campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election. Trump’s hostility toward Obama dates back years, beginning with his promotion of the racist and false “birther” conspiracy that questioned Obama’s citizenship.
The rivalry between both men intensified during Obama’s presidency from 2009 to 2017, with Trump often expressing resentment over Obama’s popularity and his receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Since beginning his second term, Trump has increasingly shared hyper-realistic but fabricated visuals on social media, often using artificial intelligence to glorify himself while mocking political opponents. These posts have become a recurring tool to energise his conservative base.
Last year, Trump circulated an AI-generated video depicting Obama being arrested in the Oval Office and later posted another showing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake moustache and sombrero, imagery Jeffries described as racist.
Trump has also faced sustained criticism for his aggressive stance against diversity, equity and inclusion policies. One of his first actions upon returning to office was to terminate all federal DEI programmes, including those within the military.
His administration has also overseen the removal of numerous books on racial discrimination from military academy libraries, drawing backlash from civil rights advocates. These programmes trace their origins to the 1960s civil rights movement led largely by Black Americans in the fight against entrenched racial injustice following centuries of slavery and systemic discrimination.
What you should know
Donald Trump’s latest social media post has intensified accusations of racism and misinformation, particularly due to its portrayal of Barack and Michelle Obama using offensive imagery.
Critics say the incident fits a long pattern that includes birtherism, AI-generated attacks on Black political leaders, and opposition to diversity initiatives.
Supporters dismiss the backlash as exaggerated, but the episode highlights how race, misinformation, and digital manipulation continue to shape American political discourse under Trump’s leadership.
