Former President Barack Obama addressed a racially offensive video that Donald Trump posted to Truth Social and later removed. The clip portrayed Barack and Michelle Obama as apes and promoted claims that the 2020 election had been stolen.
Speaking with YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama reflected on what he described as a steady decline in political standards. Cohen referenced a series of inflammatory remarks from Trump and members of his cabinet before raising the deleted post. “There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television,” Obama says.
He continued, “What is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office.”
The video also included images of Kamala Harris, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and former President Joe Biden. After backlash mounted, Trump told reporters he would not apologize.
“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,” he said. A White House spokesperson later stated that a “staffer erroneously made the post.”
Some Republicans criticized the video. Senator Tim Scott wrote on X, “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it.”
According to CNN, Trump objected to the public criticism and suggested the matter could have been handled privately. A senior administration official told CNN, “The president felt he could’ve handled that matter privately,” adding, “He was like, ‘We work together all the time. He didn’t need to comment publicly.’”