'I Didn't Make a Mistake': Donald Trump Doubles Down After Sharing Racist Obama Ape Video as GOP Allies Beg Him to Take It Down
Donald Trump defended sharing a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
Feb. 7 2026, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump has said he "didn't make a mistake" by sharing a racist video on his Truth Social account depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, despite widespread condemnation and calls for an apology, RadarOnline.com can report.
The Video
Trump rejected calls to apologize and said he initially thought the video 'was fine.'
Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, February 6, the president was asked whether he would apologize for posting the video, which superimposed the faces of Barack and Michelle Obama onto the bodies of two apes as The Tokens' song The Lion Sleeps Tonight played in the background.
"No, I didn't make a mistake," Trump said. "I mean, I look at a lot of thousands of things. I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine."
The president went on to claim the video was connected to false allegations of voter fraud following the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden. "I guess it was a take off on The Lion King and certainly it was a very strong post in terms of voter fraud," he said.
After Biden's victory, Trump repeatedly promoted debunked claims that the election was stolen from him.
"Nobody knew that that was in the end. If they would have seen it and probably they would have had the sense to take it down," Trump added.
The video was later removed from Truth Social.
White House Spin
Trump claimed the post was a 'take off on The Lion King.'
A White House official told an outlet that "A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down."
Earlier Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the post in a statement shared, writing: "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."
Widespread Backlash
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed criticism as 'fake outrage.'
Several Republican politicians criticized the video and urged Trump to apologize, including Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. In a post on X, Scott said he was "praying" the video was "fake," calling it "the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House." Scott, who endorsed Trump in 2024, urged the president to remove the video.
Trump later said he had spoken with Scott about the controversy. "He was great. Tim is a great guy," Trump said. "He understood that 100%."
The video invoked a long-standing racist trope historically used to dehumanize Black people and justify their mistreatment. The incident also follows Trump's past promotion of false claims that Obama was not born in the United States, despite official records showing the former president was born in Hawaii.
