President Donald Trump shared an election conspiracy theory video on his social media account that featured a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as primates in a jungle. California Governor Gavin Newsom called it “disgusting behavior.”
The post, shared late Thursday night, drew immediate criticism for its offensive portrayal of the country’s first black president and first lady.
The video was part of a broader wave of social media posts in which Trump repeated his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, claims that have been repeatedly dismissed by courts nationwide and by his own attorney general during his first term, who found no evidence of widespread fraud that could have changed the outcome.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed criticism of the post, which featured the Obamas, both Democrats.
Via text referencing the 1994 Disney film, Leavitt said: “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.
She added: “Please stop the fake outrage and report today on something that really matters to the American public.”
Most of the 62-second video, which was one of dozens of posts Trump shared on Truth Social overnight, appears to be taken from a conservative video alleging deliberate tampering with voting machines in key battleground states during the 2020 vote count.
Near the 60-second mark, the clip briefly shows two primates with the smiling faces of the Obamas digitally superimposed.
These images were pulled from a longer video previously circulating online by a prominent conservative meme creator. The video portrays Trump as the “king of the jungle” and depicts several Democratic leaders as animals, including Joe Biden, who is white, depicted as a primate eating a banana.
The song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” can be heard playing in the background as Obama appears in the clip.
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Outrage
The office of Gavin Newsom, a leading critic of Donald Trump and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, strongly condemned the post. “Disgusting behavior by the president. Every Republican must condemn it. Now,” Newsom’s press office wrote in a post on X.
Ben Rhodes, a former senior national security adviser and close associate of Barack Obama, also criticized the images. “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,” he wrote on X.
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Last year, Trump shared an AI-generated video of Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office and later paraded behind bars in an orange jumpsuit.
He later posted another AI-generated clip showing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is Black, wearing a fake mustache and sombrero.
Jeffries condemned the image as racist.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has faced criticism from opponents for spearheading efforts against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
