Larry Elder criticized President Donald Trump on Friday over a clip posted to the president’s social media account that Elder said depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, calling it “racist, racist, racist” during an appearance Friday morning.
Speaking on The Morning Answer with Jennifer Horn, the conservative radio host and former Republican presidential candidate also argued that the outrage surrounding the clip was hypocritical, pointing to what he described as racially charged remarks and embellishments by former President Joe Biden and other prominent Democrats.
“How about when Joe Biden, for decades, said that he was raised in a Black church and he desegregated movie theaters and restaurants? The New York Times said there’s zero evidence he did any of that, and his aides quote, gently tried to tell him to stop saying it, and he kept saying it anyway,” Elder said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the post, saying the edited shot of the Obamas came from an online meme that portrayed Trump as a “King of the Jungle” figure and Democrats as characters from The Lion King, despite the fact there are no apes in the movie.
The Obamas had not commented publicly as of Friday.
Why It Matters
The video sparked swift backlash across the political spectrum. Multiple lawmakers condemned it as racist and urged that it be removed. Trump has long targeted Obama—America’s first Black president—and has repeatedly faced criticism over remarks and messaging seen as derogatory toward people of color.
Elder, meanwhile, has drawn controversy of his own over comments rejecting the idea that the U.S. is systemically racist and suggesting some Black Americans embrace a “victim mentality.”
What to Know
According to Elder, the clip was part of a 62-second video about voting machines in the 2020 election that was shared late Thursday night. Near the end, the Obamas’ faces appeared on the bodies of apes for about one second as The Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” played. A watermark from X user @XERIAS_X—a Trump-supporting account with 45,900 followers—appeared over that segment.
Democrats quickly denounced the post as racist, and Elder argued that condemnation rang hollow given what he described as Democrats’ failure to confront other offensive or controversial remarks.
During the interview, Elder also revisited Obama’s long association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s church in Chicago, accusing Wright of anti-white and antisemitic rhetoric. Elder said Wright had compared the killing of hundreds of Black people in Sharpsville during apartheid South Africa to the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
“I know that Obama was there because the title of that sermon, Jeremiah Wright did, The Audacity of Hope. And Obama called his campaign The Audacity of Hope, so we know he was in his pew when he heard that. And he didn’t get up and walk out,” Elder said.
Obama later denounced Wright’s remarks and left the church in 2008.
Elder went on to criticize Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, saying they had stayed silent on other incidents he believes should have prompted condemnation.
“I have a whole laundry list of things Democrats do and say that should have that offend black people and nobody says a word,” Elder said.
What Happens Next
The post was later deleted from Trump’s Truth Social page. A source told Politico that Trump had not watched the video himself and that it had been shared by a staffer.
