2026-02-06 17:03
publication
2026-02-06 17:03
US President Donald Trump published a video in which former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are depicted as monkeys. This sparked criticism among politicians and the media. A White House spokeswoman called it “false outrage” because the fragment came from a meme.
Trump posted the video on his Truth Social social network on Thursday evening. At the end, for a second, two monkeys with the Obamas' faces appear in the AI-generated recording. The recording is devoted to a conspiracy theory about the 2020 elections.
The fragment with the Obama couple comes from a video that is a caricature of “The Lion King.” It was originally posted on social media in the fall by an account that published memes related to the pro-Trump MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, Axios reported. The recording also used the faces of other Democratic Party politicians, depicted as animals.
Trump's publication of the recording sparked outrage in the media and among politicians.
“I pray this is a fake because this is the most racist thing I have ever seen coming from this White House. The president should take it down,” said Republican Senator Tim Scott, who is black.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office wrote that it was “disgusting behavior by the president.” “Every Republican must condemn this. Immediately,” it said.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt called it “false outrage.” “This is from an internet meme that portrays President Trump as the king of the jungle and the Democrats as characters from The Lion King. Please stop with the fake outrage and report on something that really matters to the American public,” a spokeswoman said in a statement to CNN.
A White House representative later told the media that the video, which was “mistakenly posted by a staff member,” had already been deleted from Trump's account.
From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)
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