WASHINGTON – Former President Donald trump sparked a new wave of criticism Friday after sharing a video on his social media platform depicting former President Barack Obama and Frist Lady Michelle Obama as primates.The post, which also includes AI-generated imagery targeting othre Democratic figures, has ignited a firestorm of condemnation from across the political spectrum and renewed concerns about the escalating rhetoric surrounding the former president. The incident underscores the deeply polarized political climate as the nation heads toward the 2028 presidential election and follows a pattern of trump utilizing increasingly provocative imagery in his online interaction.
WASHINGTON – Former U.S. President Donald Trump shared a video on Thursday featuring former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, depicted as primates, sparking widespread condemnation from Democrats and politicians internationally. The incident highlights the ongoing polarization of American politics and raises concerns about the rhetoric employed by prominent figures.
The roughly one-minute video, posted on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, concludes with a two-second clip of the Obamas’ faces superimposed onto the bodies of monkeys, set against a backdrop of palm trees and accompanied by the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” famously featured in the film and musical The Lion King.
A watermark identifying the user @xerias_x, a Trump-aligned account with over 45,000 followers, is visible on the segment. The user created a longer video inserting the faces of several Democrats onto animal bodies, shown bowing before a lion-bodied Trump. The video, titled “Trump: King of the Jungle” and dated October 24, 2025, also portrays former President Joe Biden as a primate eating a banana.
The White House responded to the racist depiction of the first African American president and first lady with a statement dismissing criticism as “false outrage.”
“This comes from an internet meme video portraying President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “Please, stop the false indignation and report on something that actually matters to the American public.” Leavitt did not indicate whether the president intends to remove the post.
Neither the Obamas nor Trump have publicly commented on the video as of Friday morning.
The video also repeats unsubstantiated claims about Dominion Voting Systems, alleging the company fraudulently influenced the 2020 election results – accusations Trump has repeatedly made without providing evidence and which led to legal challenges.
Dominion Voting Systems reached a $1.3 billion settlement last year with Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former lawyer and a key figure in efforts to discredit the company, over defamation claims related to those unfounded allegations. Conservative groups and Trump supporters also blamed the company for the Republican’s defeat to Joe Biden.
In 2023, Fox News also settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion for $787.5 million.
As of Friday morning, the video had garnered over 2,500 “likes” and been reposted more than 1,100 times.
The clip was one of over 60 posts Trump made within a three-hour period Thursday night. He also shared an advertisement for the Super Bowl and amplified calls to include his face on Mount Rushmore, the national monument depicting four iconic U.S. presidents.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a potential Democratic presidential candidate for 2028 and a vocal critic of Trump, condemned the post, calling it racist.
“Disgusting behavior from the president. Every Republican should denounce it. Now,” the office of Governor Newsom posted on X.
The Democratic National Committee’s X account echoed the sentiment, stating, “This is what Trump is: sick, racist, and completely unhinged.”
Ben Rhodes, a former national security advisor and close confidant to Barack Obama, also condemned the images.
“Let Trump and his racist followers obsess over the idea that future Americans will view the Obamas as beloved figures, while he will be seen as a stain on our history,” he wrote on X.
Republicans Against Trump, a group frequently critical of the president on social media, questioned the post and its “racist imagery.” “There is no limit to his depravity,” the group wrote.
In his second year back in office, Trump has increasingly used images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) on Truth Social and other platforms, often to glorify himself and ridicule his opponents.
Last year, he posted an AI-generated video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries with a fake mustache and hat. Jeffries called the image racist.
Jeffries reacted to Trump’s latest post on Friday, writing on X, “President Obama and Michelle Obama are brilliant, compassionate, and patriotic Americans. They represent the best of this country. Donald Trump is a vile, deranged, and malignant force. Why do Republican leaders like John Thune continue to support this depraved individual? Every Republican should immediately denounce Donald Trump’s repugnant bigotry.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also weighed in, stating, “Racist. Vile. Appalling. This is dangerous and degrades our country. Where are the Senate Republicans? The president should remove the post immediately and apologize to Barack and Michelle Obama, two great Americans who make Donald Trump look small and envious.”
Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, said he was “praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen from this White House.” He called on Trump to remove the post.
Internationally, Italian Senator Matteo Renzi, a former prime minister, was among the first Europeans to respond to the post.
“And with this, Trump crosses every line. Full solidarity with Michelle and Barack Obama. How disheartening to see the White House reduced to this state,” Renzi wrote on X, accompanying his post with an image of the video and the caption “SHAME.”
“Trump is a vile racist bully. We should all condemn this without hesitation. But something tells me Farage will find a way to justify his best friend, Trump. I hope I’m wrong,” wrote British parliamentarian Ed Davey on X, also criticizing political rival Nigel Farage.
Trump also posted a clip of Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office and appearing behind bars in an orange jumpsuit. The video followed Trump’s July accusation that Obama committed treason following a report by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard alleging the former president and his administration produced false intelligence reports regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In a statement released at the time, Obama’s office called the accusations outlandish and “a ridiculous and weak attempt at distraction.”
Trump has a long history of intensely personal attacks on the Obamas and of using racist rhetoric.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump claimed immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country,” language similar to that used by Adolf Hitler to dehumanize Jews in Nazi Germany.
During his first term, Trump referred to a number of developing nations, mostly in Africa, as “shithole countries.” He initially denied using the slur but admitted in December 2025 that he had.
While Obama was in office, Trump promoted false claims that the president, who was born in Hawaii, was born in Kenya and was constitutionally ineligible to be president. Trump repeatedly demanded Obama produce birth certificates and prove he was a “native-born citizen” as required to become president in interviews that won him support from many right-wing voters.
Obama eventually released his Hawaiian birth certificate. Trump acknowledged during his 2016 campaign, after winning the Republican nomination, that Obama was born in Hawaii. He immediately claimed, falsely, that his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton was the one who started those attacks against Obama.
Agencies AFP and AP
