U.S. President Donald Trump has shared many outrageous things on his Truth Social account, especially during his late-night posting sprees. But he might have just crossed a hard boundary.
Late on Thursday, Trump posted a one-minute video that showed former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.
The video, set to the song ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight,’ is about voting machines, claiming that the votes stopped counting when Trump was ahead.
Highlights
- Donald Trump posted a video on Truth Social showing Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, sparking outrage.
- The video, linked to voting fraud claims, was shared during Black History Month, intensifying accusations of racism.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned Trump's video and called on Republicans to denounce it.
- Social media users and political commentators widely criticized the video as overtly racist and disgraceful.
Donald Trump posted a video that shows Barack and Michelle Obama as apes
Trump has claimed multiple times that the 2020 presidential election, won by Joe Biden, was “rigged” and “stolen.”
Around the 59-second mark, the video briefly cuts to two seconds of the Obamas with ape bodies, then quickly switches back to its opening focus on voting mechanisms.
The video seems to be a clip from an October 2025 video shared on X by @xerias_x. The 55-second video shows Democratic politicians as different animals in the jungle and Trump eventually walking among them as the lion king of the forest, as the animals bow down to him.
Image credits: xerias_x/X
“Disgusting behavior by the President,” wrote Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom on X. “Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
February is also Black History Month, causing people to find the video even more distasteful and racist. Barack Obama was the first African American president of the U.S.
Social media users found the video to be distasteful and racist
Image credits: Jacek Boczarski/Getty Images
Soon after Trump posted the video, the Truth Social website went down. “I wonder why Truth Social is down? Could it be that engineers are trying to scrub Trumps latest AI video?” one user on X wondered.
“Our RACIST President just posted a video which depicts Barack and Michelle Obama as Apes,” wrote commentator Brian Krassenstein on X.
“But I’m sure MAGA will tell us it’s the black people who are the real racist ones and that we need to do seeing about that. When is enough enough? When can you all admit that you voted for a terrible human being?”
The video set off a social media firestorm. “This is overt racism. Full stop. There’s no ‘misinterpretation’ and no excuse. This is who he is, who he’s always been, and why he should never be anywhere near power again. And there’s a reason the tapes from The Apprentice have never been released,” said Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko.
Image credits: AdamParkhomenko/X
Political commentator Harry Sisson wrote on X, “Trump posted a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys. Incredibly racist and disgusting. Beneath the office of the presidency, like everything he does. Every American must condemn this.”
“Being a racist and posting racist memes, places you on the ladder rung two steps below contempt,” one Truth Social user replied to the president. “I’d call you a pig, but that would be doing a grave disservice to pigs around the world. The world awaits your political demise with great anticipation.”
The video was posted during Black History Month
Image credits: realDonaldTrump/TruthSocial
One person wrote on X, “This is disgusting not distracting like they wish. Where are the Epstein files and why is the stock/crypto market in chaos.”
Another noted, “Posting something like this anytime is not OK. Posting something like this during Black History Month is an all time piece of s**t move.”
“I cannot believe this is happening in this time in history. America has moved forward, with most of us trying to eradicate bigotry and hatred, or at least not wanting it in our country. This is deeply disturbing and sad, very, very sad,” one user lamented on Reddit.
Image credits: Alex Wong/Getty Images
This is not Trump’s first time posting AI edits of political opponents. He previously shared a video depicting Hakeem Jeffries in a digitally imposed sombrero and Chuck Schumer with fabricated audio.