Trump White House Shares Video Depicting Obama and Michelle Obama as Apes During Black History Month

President Trump's social media account shares a video on February 6, 2025 — during Black History Month — that shows Barack Obama and Michelle Obama with their heads digitally superimposed on the bodies of apes in a jungle scene while "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" plays. Trump's White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defends the video, calling it a "King of the Jungle" meme depicting Trump as a lion and Democrats as Lion King characters. The video is taken down after bipartisan backlash. Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One that he "just looked at the first part" of the video and didn't see the ape imagery. He refuses to apologize. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), the only Black Republican in the Senate, writes: "Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House." GOP Senators Pete Ricketts, Roger Wicker, and Representative Mike Lawler also condemn the post. No staffer is disciplined. The incident continues the decadeslong pattern of Republican officials circulating racist imagery depicting Black political figures as primates.