U.S. President Donald Trump has deleted a controversial video from his Truth Social account following widespread condemnation from both Republican and Democratic leaders who described the clip as racially offensive.
The video, shared late Thursday, largely recycled former President Trump’s unsubstantiated claims about fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. However, critics seized on a brief segment in which AI-generated imagery depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama superimposed onto cartoon apes, set to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Many observers said the visuals echoed racist tropes historically used to dehumanise Black people.
The post sparked swift bipartisan outrage on Friday. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, called the imagery “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” and urged Trump to remove it. Civil rights groups and Democratic leaders also denounced the video as offensive, particularly as it circulated during Black History Month.
Initially, the White House defended the clip. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described it as part of an “internet meme video” intended to portray Trump as the “King of the Jungle,” with Democrats recast as characters from The Lion King. She suggested criticism of the post was exaggerated.
As criticism mounted, the video was deleted from Truth Social within about 12 hours of its posting. A White House official later told reporters that the clip was shared in error by a staff member and removed once the issue was brought to the administration’s attention.
Neither Barack Obama nor Michelle Obama has publicly responded to the incident.
The episode has reignited debate about the use of AI-generated content, internet memes, and racially charged symbolism by public officials on social media, highlighting ongoing concerns over misinformation and political communication in a highly polarised environment.
