Donald Trump reposted a video Thursday, Feb. 5, that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
The clip appeared near the end of a longer video Trump, 79, shared on Truth Social that repeated unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
In the reposted segment, Barack and Michelle Obama’s faces were edited onto the bodies of two animated apes dancing to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The post went up without a caption.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the repost Friday morning, saying in a statement, “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,” she added.
Leavitt pointed to an earlier version of the meme that places Trump’s face on a lion, while other political figures — including Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton — are also edited into the video.
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By Friday afternoon, the post had been removed from Trump’s page amid widespread criticism, including from some Republican lawmakers. A White House official said in an updated statement, “A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.”
The repost is the latest in a series of Trump shares involving doctored or AI-generated videos targeting political opponents.
In July, Trump circulated a fake, AI-generated clip that showed Obama being arrested by federal authorities and put behind bars, set to the tune of “Y.M.C.A.” by the Village People.
That video opened with several Democrats — including Obama, Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Cory Booker — stating that “no one is above the law.” The beginning was paired with the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme, before cutting to an image of Pepe the Frog, a character that has been adopted over the years as an alt-right symbol.
The footage then shifted to a manipulated version of Trump’s November 2016 visit to the White House with Obama, portraying FBI agents pulling Obama from a chair, putting him in handcuffs and escorting him out of the Oval Office as Trump smiled while “Y.M.C.A.” played.
The AI sequence then showed Obama in an orange jumpsuit behind bars.
In September, Trump drew additional criticism after posting another racist AI-generated video on Truth Social that portrayed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a fake sombrero and mustache.
