President Donald Trump deleted a video from his Truth Social account after it sparked widespread condemnation for a racist portrayal of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
The 62-second clip, posted during a late-night burst of activity on Thursday, Feb. 5, revolved around Trump’s long-running 2020 election conspiracy claims — including his frequent allegation that voting machines in key battleground states were manipulated.
But the fiercest backlash came from the video’s final moments: two primates appear with the Obamas’ smiling faces edited onto them, set to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens.
A White House official said in a statement, “A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.”
Further details about the staffer were not provided.
The imagery drew particular outrage because the racist practice of comparing Black people to primates has a long and documented history. Critics said the post echoed that dehumanizing trope — and noted it appeared during Black History Month.
The reaction spread quickly across the political spectrum, including from within Trump’s own party.
Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican who endorsed Trump in 2024 after ending his own presidential campaign, expressed alarm in a post on X on Friday, Feb. 6.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” Scott wrote. “The President should remove it.”
Before the post was taken down, the White House’s initial response sought to minimize the controversy. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt described it as an internet meme.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” she said in a statement. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Leavitt pointed to the original meme format, which features Trump’s face edited onto a lion while various political figures — including Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton — appear elsewhere in the video. Critics, however, argued that explanation did not address the most inflammatory element: the clip’s depiction of the Obamas as primates. They also noted that The Lion King does not prominently feature monkey or ape characters beyond Rafiki, a mandrill that does not resemble the figures shown in the edited video.
