Content warning: this article includes imagery depicting offensive material. Reader discretion is advised.
The White House has defended Donald Trump following a widely condemned post on the president’s TruthSocial account. The now-deleted AI video post depicts former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the post on Friday. In a statement shared to Deadline, Leavitt said the president was referencing the animated Disney film, The Lion King. There are no apes featured in the 1994 film.
Donald Trump is facing backlash for his “racist” post
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King, Karoline told Deadline early on Friday. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
However, this statement does not fully add up, as the animated footage in the clip is not from the Disney film.
Additionally, Republican Junior Senator Tim Scott condemned the video on X. Tim, who is Black, called the video the “most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.” However, he slightly defended the President, stating he hoped the video was fake.
Trump’s official account posted a minute-long video regarding the claim that Democrats tried to steal an election victory in 2020. The post features a watermark from PatriotNewsOutlet.com. In the final moments of the video, a two-second clip flashes up showing the Obamas as apes, dancing in the jungle-themed song, The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Later, the White House, in a rare move, backpedaled their defense of the post. In a subsequent statement, officials passed the blame to an unnamed staff member, stating the post was not shared by Trump.
“A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,” an official said on Friday. However, Leavitt did not claim a staffer was behind the post earlier. Rather, she made no defense of the widely-held belief that the president was the one who shared the post.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK A STAFFER POSTED THE VIDEO?
