Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP / Getty Images
President Donald Trump sparked fresh outrage overnight after sharing a racist video on his Truth Social account that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
The one-minute video pushed false conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, falsely claiming — again — that Dominion Voting Systems helped “steal” the election. That claim has been repeatedly debunked and resulted in Dominion securing a $787.5 million defamation settlement from Fox News in 2023.
Near the end of the clip, the smiling faces of Barack and Michelle Obama are superimposed onto animated monkeys swaying to the song, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
As of Friday morning (February 6), the video had been liked and reposted thousands of times on Trump’s platform.
Trump’s post drew swift condemnation. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office called it “disgusting behavior by the President” and urged Republicans to publicly denounce it. Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko described the post as “overt racism,” writing on X that there was “no misinterpretation and no excuse.”
Trump's posting of the racist clip came amid his three-hour posting spree on Truth Social overnight. He shared more than 60 posts that amplified election denialism, reposted campaign material, and revived a few of his long-running personal grievances.
Trump has a history of racist attacks on the Obamas, including his years-long promotion of the birther conspiracy falsely questioning Barack Obama’s citizenship — a claim that played a central role in Trump’s rise in national politics.
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