The White House removed a Truth Social post by President Trump after a brief two-second clip showed Barack and Michelle Obama’s faces superimposed on primates. A White House official said a staffer posted the video in error; the administration initially defended it as an "internet meme." Lawmakers from both parties condemned the image as racist and called for an apology. The clip also amplified debunked 2020-election claims tied to Dominion Voting Systems, which has won major defamation settlements.
White House Removes Trump’s Post After Short Clip Shows Obamas’ Faces Superimposed on Primates
Image from a video shared by President Trump on Truth Social. / Credit: @realDonaldTrump
The White House on Friday removed a Truth Social post shared by President Donald Trump after the video included a brief clip that superimposed former President Barack Obama’s and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s faces onto primate bodies.
A White House official said a staffer "erroneously made the post," and the link to the post now returns a "not found" message. The episode prompted swift condemnation from lawmakers across the political spectrum and renewed scrutiny of the administration’s social-media practices.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the footage as part of an "internet meme video" portraying Mr. Trump as the "King of the Jungle" and other figures as characters from The Lion King, urging critics to "stop the fake outrage." Later, the post was removed.
Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had "just looked at the first part" of the clip and did not see the segment featuring the Obamas. "I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of a picture that people don't like," he said. "I wouldn't like it either, but I didn't see it."
Lawmakers Denounce The Post
The clip was widely condemned. Republicans including Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Mike Lawler called for its removal and an apology, while Democratic leaders such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries described it as evidence of "disgusting bigotry." Several other Republican senators also described the image as unacceptable and urged the White House to apologize.
Origin And Content Of The Clip
The segment in question appears to have been sourced from an earlier AI-generated video shared last October by the X user @xerias_x under the caption "President Trump: King of the Jungle." That original video (about 55 seconds) depicted multiple Democrats as animals; the version the president shared contained only the brief segment showing the Obamas. The specific Obamas clip lasted roughly two seconds and played over a rendition of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."
Election Claims And Legal Context
The full video promoted baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Mr. Trump and made allegations about voting machines from Dominion Voting Systems. Those claims have been widely debunked and sparked major defamation litigation: Fox News settled with Dominion for $787.5 million in 2023, and Newsmax paid $67 million. Dominion also reached a confidential settlement with Rudy Giuliani.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr has said the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread fraud that would have changed the 2020 outcome. Special counsel Jack Smith also testified that some public claims about the election were later disavowed by those who made them.
Why It Matters
Observers say the post is significant both because it circulated racist imagery of the nation’s first Black president and first Black first lady and because it revived false claims about the 2020 election. The episode has prompted renewed demands for accountability within the White House communications apparatus and raised questions about how AI-generated political content spreads online.
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