United States President Donald Trump has defended his decision to share a video on his official Truth Social account that portrayed former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, insisting he committed no error and does not owe anyone an apology.
Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said the controversial post was shared without his full review of the video and maintained that his intention was not to promote racist content.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said. “I didn’t see the whole thing. I watched the beginning, and it was about voter fraud and how crooked the machines are.”
The president explained that after viewing only part of the clip, he handed it over to his team to post, assuming it had been properly vetted.
“Generally, people look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t,” he added.
When pressed on whether he condemned the racist depiction of the Obamas in the video, Trump responded, “Of course I do.”
The video, which circulated online late Thursday, promoted conspiracy theories about voting machines used in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and included imagery widely condemned as racist.
It remained on Trump’s Truth Social account for about 12 hours before it was deleted on Friday morning following strong backlash from both Democrats and Republicans.
Earlier on Friday, the White House had defended the post in a statement issued by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who dismissed the criticism as exaggerated.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” Leavitt said. “Please stop the fake outrage and focus on issues that actually matter to the American public.”
However, hours after the statement, the video was removed from the president’s social media account amid mounting pressure and condemnation.
