US President Donald Trump refused to apologize on Friday (local time) after he shared and later deleted a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys in a jungle, claiming he had not seen the final images containing the offending images and blaming the error on a staffer, according to a CNN report.
Here’s what Trump said
“I didn’t see the whole thing,” Trump said. “I watched the first episode and it was really about machine voter fraud, how crooked it is, how disgusting it is. Then I gave it to people. They generally watch the whole thing. But I don’t think anyone does.”
The White House initially defended the post, but removed it early Friday, about 12 hours after it was posted. When reporters later asked Trump if he condemned the video, he said, “Of course I do.”
A White House official said “a White House staff member accidentally created the post” and it was removed.
When asked directly if he would apologize during Republican calls to do so, he declined, CNN reported.
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The post drew criticism from both parties, including Republican Sen. Tim Scott, a black lawmaker and longtime Trump ally, according to a Reuters report. “Praying it’s fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen in this White House,” Scott said in X. “The president should take it down.”
Other lawmakers from Trump’s GOP called on him to apologize and delete the post. Some Republican lawmakers have also privately approached the White House about the video, according to a source familiar with the matter, Reuters reported.
Reuters reported that when asked about the call from Republicans and others to apologize, Trump said: “I didn’t make a mistake. I mean, I give, I look at a lot of things — thousands of things.”
Trump has a history of spreading racist rhetoric, including repeatedly promoting a false “birther” conspiracy that claimed former President Obama, who served from 2009 to 2017, was not born in the United States. Trump called Obama “very bad” and a “terrible divider of our country” at a prayer breakfast on Thursday.
Before deleting the post, Leavitt said it was “from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.” Trump’s clip featured a song used in that Disney musical.
For centuries, white supremacists have depicted people of African descent as monkeys or apes as part of campaigns to dehumanize and dominate the black population.
“May it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a blot on our history,” said Ben Rhodes, a former Obama adviser, on X.
Trump’s racial remarks on the Internet
Trump, now in his second term, has long used social media to announce politics, comment on current issues and share fan-generated content with his nearly 12 million followers on Truth Social, a platform owned by his Trump Media & Technology Group.
Thursday’s post raised questions about Trump’s social media practices, which could affect markets and stoke international tensions.
Mark Burns, a black pastor and Trump supporter, told X that the president told him Friday that a staffer was responsible for the post, and Burns called for that person to be fired.
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Trump has previously criticized his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, for allegedly failing to track presidential memos issued under his name and signed using an “automatic pen.”
In December, Trump called Somalis “garbage” and said they should be kicked out of the country. He also referred to it and other developing countries as “scum of the earth”. He faced criticism last year for posting a picture of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is black, sporting a handlebar mustache and a sombrero.
(With input from agencies)