Republican leads cost in opposition to Trump’s ‘racist’ Obama ‘apes’ put up as White House blames staffer and removes it | EUROtoday

President Donald Trump shared a video portraying the Obamas as apes, triggering swift condemnation and claims of blatant racism — together with from a number of Republican lawmakers.

The video, shared on Truth Social final night time, confirmed Barack and Michelle Obama’s faces superimposed onto apes in a jungle, swaying facet to facet and smiling because the music “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” performed within the background. The clip was overlaid by a watermark from X person @XERIAS_X, a Trump-supporting meme account with 46,000 followers.

On Friday morning, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the clip as innocent. In an announcement to The Independentshe stated, “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.”

“Please stop the fake outrage,” she added.

But as criticism started to develop, the White House appeared to shift its stance. An official later informed The Independent {that a} workers member — not Trump himself — had “erroneously made the post.” The video has since been faraway from his Truth Social account.

‘The most racist factor factor I’ve seen out of this White House’

The clip, which was up for 12 hours earlier than being pulled from the president’s social media feed, was met with disgust by quite a few politicians, tv hosts and different high-profile figures.

Senator Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican and shut ally of Trump’s, was certainly one of a lot of GOP officers to accuse the president of crossing the road.

“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” Scott wrote on X. “The President should remove it.”

Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican — whose district voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 — additionally slammed the president.

“The President’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered,” he wrote on social media.

GOP criticism has grown over the course of the day with further denunciations pouring in from high-ranking officers.

In a put up on X, Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, referred to as the video “totally unacceptable” and requested that the president apologize. Meanwhile, Senator Pete Ricketts, a Nebraska Republican, wrote: “Even if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this.”

“I do not feel the need to respond to every inflammatory statement made by the White House,” Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, wrote on X on Friday afternoon. “However, the release of racist images of former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama is offensive, heart breaking, and unacceptable. President Trump should apologize.”

Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, echoed Scott’s feedback, stating that the video “was appalling.”

Senator John Curtis of Utah additionally denounced the put up, calling it “blatantly racist and inexcusable” and including that “it should never have been posted or left published for so long.”

As the general public condemnations mounted, the White House was “besieged” with non-public calls from Republicans, who begged for the video to be deleted, a supply with information of the matter informed Axios.

The most scathing remarks, although, got here from Democrats — a few of whom stated they had been under no circumstances stunned by the president’s put up.

House Democratic chief Hakeem Jeffries put it extra bluntly: “F*** Donald Trump.”

“F*** Donald Trump and his vile, racist and malignant behavior,” he stated in a video on Instagram. “This guy is an unhinged bottom feeder.”

“Donald Trump had the racist, bigoted audacity to post an AI-generated video depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat, wrote on X. “While his behavior is not shocking, it is certainly disgusting and disturbing.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer described the video as “Racist, “Vile” and “Abhorrent.”

“He should be ashamed of himself, if he were capable of shame,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated in an announcement. “Taking it down is not enough. The White House must apologize for this beyond disgusting behavior.”

Plenty of Democrats questioned whether or not their Republican colleagues would have the “moral courage” to sentence the put up. While many GOP officers did certainly name out the president, not less than one sidestepped questions on it.

When requested concerning the clip on CNN, Rep. Mike Haridopolos, a Florida Republican, stated he had not watched it.

“Well, I’ve not seen that video to you, just showed it to me,” he said. When pressed on the matter, he said: “Well, I’ll check out it proper after our present…You sort of threw it at me proper right here.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune haven’t issued statements concerning the president’s put up.

On Friday morning, MS NOW host Joe Scarborough criticized GOP officers for failing to denounce the video en masse. “All you’re doing is making yourself look pathetic – Republicans – for not standing up to this open racism and bigotry,” he stated. CNN anchor Jake Tapper additionally derided the put up as “vile & racist.”

‘Staffer should be fired immediately’

Throughout the day on Friday, a number of distinguished people — together with some Trump allies — have referred to as for the staffer who posted the video to be terminated.

Pastor Mark Burns, a televangelist and early supporter of Trump’s, stated that he spoke with the president concerning the incident.

“I just spoke directly with President Trump regarding the offensive Obama ape video that circulated online,” he wrote on X. “The President assured me clearly and unequivocally that he did not post it.”

“My recommendation to the President was direct and firm,” Burns, a member of the teams Pastors for Trump, added. “That staffer should be fired immediately, and the President should publicly condemn this action.”

David Brody, a commentator for the Christian Broadcasting Network, who’s a vocal supporter of the president, echoed this sentiment.

“FIRE THIS STAFFER!!!!!!! There is NO PLACE for this UGLY UGLY RACIST video,” he wrote in a put up on social media.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, demanded that not solely the staffer be dismissed, but additionally everybody who had a hand in posting the video.

“Everyone in the White House involved in any way with that vile, sickening racist Trump post must be fired immediately,” Raskin wrote on X on Friday afternoon. “Everyone in the communications department, everyone in the press office, every deputy chief of staff, everyone involved up and down the line. Not one more tax dollar for this filth.”

Who runs Trump’s social media accounts?

Although the White House has an in depth digital communications crew that manages the administration’s official social media accounts on X and different platforms, entry to Trump’s personal Truth Social account is proscribed to the president himself plus a good circle of shut aides.

Trump has lengthy been recognized to do a lot of his personal posting courting again to his early years on Twitter, when he would opine on nearly any topic and wasn’t shy about mixing it up with rank-and-file platform customers.

During his early years as a candidate and his first time period as president, a lot of his on-line exercise was managed by Daniel Scavino, a longtime confidant of the president who has labored for him in a single capability or one other since he was a teenage golf caddy at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey membership.

Scavino, who returned to the White House with Trump final 12 months with the rank of Assistant to the President and Deputy White House Chief of Staff, is known to nonetheless be a kind of few aides trusted with entry to Trump’s private social media megaphone.

But with the 50-year-old taking up a broader vary of obligations in Trump’s second time period — together with working the White House Personnel Office, The Independent understands that the duty of managing the president’s Truth Social output on a day-to-day foundation typically rests on the shoulders of Natalie Harp, an ex-One America News Network persona who serves as a private assistant to Trump and works simply outdoors the Oval Office.

The Independent additional understands that Harp is commonly the individual to whom Trump dictates the textual content of Truth Social posts — when he isn’t posting himself. The scope of her involvement within the put up is unknown, nevertheless, and he or she has not been accused of creating it. Harp didn’t reply to an emailed enquiry from The Independent.

A former White House and marketing campaign staffer from Trump’s first time period informed The Independent that the president’s late-night posting-and-reposting sprees had been typically his personal doing.

Trump has a protracted historical past of attacking the Obamas, typically utilizing incendiary rhetoric, which has drawn accusations of racism.

Prior to his entry into politics, Trump repeatedly promoted the unsubstantiated declare that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, demanding he present the general public his delivery certificates. In 2011, Obama launched his long-form delivery certificates proving he’d been born in Hawaii. During a information convention, he decried Trump as a “carnival barker.”

Trump lastly acknowledged that the previous Democratic president was born within the United States shortly earlier than the 2016 election.