Trump calls deleted Obama ape video a 'very strong piece', refuses to discipline staffer

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump on Thursday, February 12, stood by a now-deleted video shared on his Truth Social account that included racist imagery depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, calling it a “very strong piece” and refusing to apologize for its posting.

Asked by reporters at a White House press briefing why no staffer had been disciplined, Trump said that he had seen only part of the video, which focused on unproven claims of voter fraud and did not view the offensive clip before it was posted.

“No, I haven’t (disciplined anyone),” Trump said, insisting that the video’s primary theme was about voter fraud and not intended to demean anyone.

Trump also attributed the inclusion of the racist imagery to an unnamed staffer’s error, saying the offensive segment was unintended. He defended the content as part of a broader internet meme.

Bipartisan backlash and internal criticism

The video was posted late Thursday and remained online for nearly 12 hours before deletion, drawing swift and rare bipartisan condemnation.

Even members of Trump’s own party denounced it. Sen Tim Scott (R-SC) called the post “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” and urged Trump to remove it.

Republican Rep Mike Lawler also criticized the post, describing it as “wrong and incredibly offensive.”

Democratic leaders, including California Gov Gavin Newsom, blasted the video as “disgusting behavior” and called on all Republicans to denounce it. Civil rights voices, including the NAACP, labeled the imagery “blatantly racist.”

White House first defends and then deletes

Initially, the White House press office sought to defuse anger by dismissing the backlash as “fake outrage,” with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt characterizing the footage as an internet meme comparing political figures to characters from 'The Lion King'.

But as criticism mounted across political and cultural spheres, including calls for accountability during Black History Month, the administration quietly deleted the post. A White House official later said that the clip had been posted “erroneously” by a staffer.

The deleted video combined a longer clip pushing claims about the 2020 election with a brief, approximately one-second insert showing the Obamas’ faces superimposed on ape bodies, set to the song 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'.