President Trump’s Offensive Video towards the Obamas
By Brionna Gillis
Courtesy Zeteo via Truth Social
President Donald Trump shared a racially insensitive video on social media of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
In a video posted last Thursday night on Trump’s social media platform, former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were depicted with their faces on the bodies of the apes. The video was a conspiracy about the 2020 election. At the end of the video, the Obamas’ faces appear abruptly on bodies of apes without explanation with the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” playing over it, per ABC news.
“The video was very offensive and it was very unbecoming of someone that holds the seat of the United States of America, especially depicting the former President and First Lady in such a manner,” said Kevin Jones, Hampton University's NAACP political action chair and a second-year political science major with a concentration and policy administration minor in leadership studies.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he only saw the first part of the since deleted video.
“I guess during the end of it there was some kind of picture people don’t like. I wouldn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it,” said Trump. “I just, I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud,” per ABC.
When asked if he would apologize for the video, Trump said, “No I didn’t make a mistake. I mean...I look at a lot of, thousands of things, and I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine,” per ABC news.
The video was met with immediate backlash after its posting. Several black conservatives with ties to Trump’s administration issued rare public rebukes after the video was shared. Other notable figures such as the NAACP National President, Derrick Johnson, said the video was "blatantly racist, disgusting and utterly despicable," in a statement released last Friday.
“I expect nothing else from someone who has time and time again devalued and insulted African Americans and people of color and their achievements,” said Jones.
Following the backlash, the video was later deleted on Friday afternoon by the white house and taken down from the president’s page. The Obama’s have yet to comment on the post or the video itself, making their first public comments since the incident, wishing team USA good luck at the Winter Olympics.
