US President Donald Trump said he did not see the racist portion of a social media video depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes before it was shared from his account.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said he had only watched the beginning of the 62-second video and was unaware that it ended with the offensive clip. Asked whether he would apologise, he said, “I didn’t make a mistake.”
The video, set to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight, included false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The racist clip appeared at the end. The post was later removed from Trump’s Truth Social account following widespread backlash.
Trump said the video was posted by a staff member and claimed he did not know about the depiction of the Obamas. “If my people had looked at the whole thing, they probably would have had the sense to take it down,” he said, adding that it was removed as soon as the issue was discovered.
The White House initially defended the post, calling it an “internet meme video,” but reversed course after criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. A White House official later said the video had been shared in error by a staffer.
Republican Senator Tim Scott described the clip as “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” and called for its removal. Other Republican lawmakers, including Representatives Mike Lawler and Senators John Curtis, also condemned the post, calling it offensive and unacceptable.
The clip appears to have originated from a meme video shared on X last year, which portrayed several Democratic leaders as animals. The Obamas have not commented publicly on the video.
The incident has drawn strong reactions from civil rights groups and Democratic leaders. NAACP President Derrick Johnson called the video “disgusting,” while several Democratic officials accused Trump of promoting racism.
The controversy adds to Trump’s long history of attacks on Barack Obama, including past false claims questioning Obama’s birthplace, which Trump later acknowledged were untrue.
With inputs from BBC