President Donald Trump on Friday removed a controversial social media post that included racist imagery depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as cartoon apes, but said he would not apologize for sharing the content, even as the episode sparked swift bipartisan backlash and renewed scrutiny of the White House’s use of manipulated political media.
The video, which circulated for several hours before being taken down, primarily promoted false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Near its conclusion, the clip abruptly transitioned to altered imagery portraying the Obamas as apes, accompanied by the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The imagery immediately drew criticism from lawmakers, civil rights advocates, and members of Trump’s own party.
The episode showed mounting concerns about racist political messaging, misinformation, and accountability at the highest levels of government, particularly during Black History Month and amid Trump’s renewed efforts to amplify discredited election fraud narratives. While the White House removed the video after backlash, Trump’s refusal to apologize, and his insistence that he bore no responsibility, intensified the political fallout.
The controversy also revived broader debates over the spread of manipulated or AI-altered political content online and the role of senior officials in verifying material before amplifying it to millions of followers.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One late Friday, Trump said he had only viewed the opening portion of the video before it was posted and was unaware of the racist imagery near the end.
“I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine,” Trump said, explaining that the early portion focused on claims of election irregularities. “I looked in the first part and it was really about voter fraud … and the machines, how crooked it is.”
Trump said the video was subsequently shared by staff without full review. “Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they’d look at the whole thing,” he said. “But I guess somebody didn’t, and they posted.”
He added that the video was removed once the offensive imagery was discovered. “We took it down as soon as we found out about it,” Trump said.
Despite acknowledging that the imagery was racist, Trump rejected the idea that he made a mistake. When asked directly whether he should make an apology, he responded: “No, I didn’t make a mistake.”
A White House official told NBC News that the post was uploaded in error by a staff member and removed shortly before noon on Friday. The White House did not immediately release a formal written apology or explanation beyond that statement.
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Earlier in the controversy, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the video, describing it as “an internet meme depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” and urged media outlets to “stop the fake outrage.” That defense was later abandoned as criticism escalated.
The imagery triggered rare bipartisan condemnation, with lawmakers across the political spectrum calling the video offensive and unacceptable.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the Senate’s only Black Republican, described the post as “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” and demanded its immediate removal. Trump later said he spoke with Scott after the backlash, describing the senator as “great” and saying “Tim understood that 100%.”
Several other Republicans publicly criticized the post and urged the White House to apologize.
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) wrote that “even if this was a ‘Lion King’ meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this,” adding that the White House should remove the post and issue an apology.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) called the imagery “wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.”
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said the images were “offensive, heartbreaking, and unacceptable,” while Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) described the episode as “a grave failure of judgment” that was “absolutely unacceptable from anyone — most especially from the President of the United States.”
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Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) criticized not only the post itself but the delay in removing it, saying the content was “blatantly racist and inexcusable” and “should never have been posted or left published for so long.”
The incident fits into a broader pattern of Trump sharing manipulated, edited, or AI-generated videos attacking political opponents or amplifying conspiracy theories. In recent months, Trump has repeatedly returned to the false claims that the 2020 election was rigged. The assertions that have been rejected by courts, election officials, and Trump’s own former administration officials.
The latest controversy also comes amid renewed public attention on election security, including recent FBI activity related to voter records in Georgia, though authorities have not indicated that the actions support claims of systemic fraud.
As of Saturday morning, the White House had not announced any disciplinary action related to the posting, nor had it issued a formal apology beyond Trump’s verbal condemnation of the racist imagery.
