Bernie Sanders asks Republicans if they'll still support Trump after Obama ape video

WASHINGTON, DC: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on Friday, February 6, questioned the Republican Party's continued support for President Donald Trump after an AI-generated video, which he described as  "disgustingly racist."

The controversy erupted after a video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes was shared from the POTUS' Truth Social account. White House officials said a staffer "erroneously made the post." Trump said he only "looked at the beginning" of the video before it was shared. 

Bernie Sanders slams Republicans over their support for Trump

Senator Bernie Sanders did not hold back in his assessment of the video, taking to X (formerly Twitter), he condemned the imagery. He asserted that the depiction of the country's first Black president and his wife as primates was "disgustingly racist."

He then questioned how long GOP leaders would remain silent or supportive in the face of such rhetoric.

“Are my Republican colleagues going to continue to bend the knee to a racist, authoritarian president who wants the American people to bow down before him?” the veteran Vermont politician asked. 

White House deletes video following massive backlash 

It is to be noted that following the wave of online backlash and accusations of racial insensitivity, the White House deleted the video.

In response to the accusations, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that it was a “meme video depicting Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.” 

She dismissed the criticism, telling reporters, “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."

Notably, the now-deleted meme-style video of roughly one minute featured the Obamas' faces superimposed onto ape bodies while 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' played in the background. 

Trump says he 'didn’t make a mistake' over AI-generated video

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump addressed the public backlash, insisting he did not do anything wrong and would not apologize. 

When asked by a reporter whether he planned to apologize for the post, the Republican leader was direct about his answer.

“No, I didn’t make a mistake,” he said, adding that he had only watched the beginning of the clip before it was shared.

Trump claimed the portion he viewed focused on alleged voter fraud during the 2020 election and said he was unaware of the offensive imagery that appeared later in the video.

“I saw it, and I just looked at the first part. It was about voter fraud in Georgia — there was a lot of voter fraud, 2020 voter fraud,” he said. “I didn’t see the whole thing.”

Trump added, “I guess toward the end, there was some kind of picture that people didn’t like. I wouldn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it.”