Trump refuses to apologize for posting racist video of Obamas

Trump's Truth Social account posted a 62-second AI-generated video at 11:44 PM ET on Thursday, February 5, 2026 -- one of dozens of late-night posts. The video promoted conspiracy theories about voting machines rigged to favor Joe Biden in the 2020 election. In its final seconds, Barack and MOMichelle Obama's faces appeared superimposed on ape bodies, dancing in a jungle setting while "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" played. The video was watermarked from @XERIAS_X, the same Trump-supporting X account that created an AI video Trump shared in October 2025. The post stayed up for roughly 12 hours before removal.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the post Friday morning, saying: "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public." This defense came during the first week of Black History Month. The White House later reversed, with an official stating "a White House staffer erroneously made the post."

Sen. TSTim Scott (R-SC), the Senate's only Black Republican and chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), was the first prominent Republican to publicly condemn the video. He posted on X: "Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House." Scott also chairs the NRSC, making his condemnation politically significant -- he runs the party's Senate campaign arm.

Trump called Scott on Friday after Scott's public condemnation. During the call, Trump told Scott the repost was a staffer's mistake and said he would take it down. The post was removed shortly after their conversation. This shows key Republican allies can pressure Trump on specific actions even when broader party accountability fails.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Friday evening, Trump said "of course" he condemns the racist portions but refused to apologize: "No, I didn't make a mistake. I look at a lot of, thousands of, things, and I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine." He also said: "I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of picture people don't like. I wouldn't like it either, but I didn't see it." Trump blamed "the people" (staff) for posting without his full review.

Other prominent figures condemned the video across party lines. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) called it "totally unacceptable" and said the president should apologize. BKBernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., said "We are not apes." NAACP President DJDerrick Johnson called the video "blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable." 🌴California Gov. Gavin Newsom said "Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now." An Obama spokesperson said the former president had no response.

Despite bipartisan condemnation, no Republican introduced a censure resolution, held oversight hearings, or launched an investigation into who posted the video. Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate and could censure Trump, hold oversight hearings, or investigate who posted the video. But doing so would create conflict with their own party's president. The incident demonstrates how intra-party accountability depends on political will, not constitutional powers.

The "staffer" defense raises questions about presidential responsibility for social media posts. Trump told reporters he saw the video first but "just looked at the first part" before giving it to "the people" to post. A White House official said a staffer "erroneously made the post." Either Trump reviewed the video inadequately before approving it, or he didn't review it at all. In both scenarios, the president bears responsibility for content posted from his official accounts.