NYT columnist Maureen Dowd accuses Trump of 'Obama Derangement Syndrome' after video controversy
WASHINGTON, DC: New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd on Saturday, February 7, accused President Donald Trump of suffering from what she called “Obama Derangement Syndrome,” following backlash over a racist video that briefly appeared on the president’s Truth Social account.
The video, which was deleted on Friday, depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes and was appended to a longer clip promoting conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.
“It was at the end of a video filled with baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election,” Dowd wrote in her latest column. “The man who pushed the despicable ‘birther’ conspiracy is still at it, using a racist meme from a far-right Pepe-the-frog-loving acolyte.”
“Like many of Trump’s actions,” she added, “it was both shocking and predictable.”
White House deletes video amid backlash
Dowd said that the White House removed the video only after realizing the level of outrage it had triggered, including condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans.
“The White House deleted it when they realized the outrage was real,” she wrote. “Officials blamed a staffer, though you know Trump was in on it.”
Dowd pointed to Trump’s own comments earlier in the week, noting that he had acknowledged personally “retruthing” conspiracy theories on his social media platform.
The video in question recycled unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump and in favor of former President Joe Biden. It portrayed several Democratic elected officials as animals, while Trump’s head was superimposed on the body of a lion.
The animated animals bounced to the song 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', popularized by 'The Lion King'. Toward the end of the clip, Barack and Michelle Obama appeared with their faces superimposed onto the bodies of apes, also moving to the music.
Dowd highlighted prior reporting by The New York Times documenting what it described as Trump’s “history of making degrading remarks about people of color, women and immigrants,” and noted that the Obamas had been frequent targets.
She added that in Trump’s current term, posts echoing white supremacist messaging have been promoted by official government accounts, including those of the White House, the Labor Department and the Department of Homeland Security.
Maureen Dowd slams White House response and Trump
Dowd reserved particular scorn for the White House’s initial defense of the video, calling it “pathetic.”
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the clip as an “internet meme” and urged reporters to “stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
“Well, Karoline,” Dowd shot back in her column, “I think Americans do care that your boss is a racist and off his rocker.”
Dowd also criticized Trump’s remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast earlier in the week, calling them a “Dostoyevsky-esque moment.” At the event, Trump said that he needed to win the 2020 election “for my own ego” and again claimed that the contest was rigged.
She further denounced Trump’s responses to questions surrounding the Justice Department’s final release of files connected to Jeffrey Epstein, describing his comments as evasive and disturbing.
