U.S. President Donald Trump has defended his decision to share a controversial social media post that included racist imagery depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, insisting he made “no mistake” despite widespread backlash.
The post, shared late Thursday, featured a roughly one-minute video that largely promoted Trump’s long-standing and unproven claims that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was rigged. Toward the end of the clip, an edited segment appeared showing the Obamas’ faces superimposed on cartoon apes, accompanied by the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
The video triggered immediate outrage across political and public circles, with critics condemning the imagery as racist, offensive and inappropriate — particularly as it surfaced during Black History Month.
Although the post was later deleted, Trump maintained that he did nothing wrong. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the U.S. president said he had only watched the beginning of the video before it was shared.
“I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine,” Trump said, explaining that the early portion focused on allegations of voter fraud. “We took it down as soon as we found out about it.”
Despite acknowledging the racist nature of the imagery, Trump insisted he bore no responsibility for the controversy.
The White House said the post had been uploaded in error by a staff member and was removed shortly after it was flagged. However, the explanation failed to quell criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
Senator Tim Scott described the content as “the most racist thing” he had seen from the White House, while other Republican lawmakers, including Senator Pete Ricketts and Representative Mike Lawler, called the imagery offensive and said an apology should have been issued.
Further criticism followed even after the video was removed. Representative Mike Turner labelled the content “offensive, heartbreaking, and unacceptable,” while Representative Brian Fitzpatrick described it as “a grave failure of judgment.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the video, characterising it as an internet meme, but backlash continued to mount across social media and political circles.
The incident adds to previous controversies involving Trump’s sharing of manipulated or AI-generated content targeting political opponents, as well as his continued promotion of disputed claims surrounding the 2020 election.
Representatives for Barack and Michelle Obama have not issued an official response.