Washington DC [US], February 7: US President Donald Trump deleted a 'racist' video from his Truth Social account hours after posting it, following a widespread bipartisan backlash, CNN reported.
According to CNN, the video, shared late Thursday night, depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle, invoking a longstanding racist trope. The post was removed nearly 12 hours later after sharp criticism from lawmakers across party lines, including several close Republican allies.
Just before noon on Friday, the White House blamed a staffer for the post and said it had been taken down. "A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down," a White House official told CNN. Earlier, the administration had dismissed criticism as "fake outrage."
The backlash included condemnation from GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the Senate, who called the post racist and urged its removal.
"Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House. The President should remove it," Scott wrote on X.
CNN reported that the controversy put the White House on damage-control mode, with officials and allies contacting lawmakers and media outlets to insist that Trump was not personally involved. One White House adviser told CNN, "The president was not aware of that video, and was very let down by the staffer who put it out."
The Obamas appear briefly near the end of the video, which otherwise promotes false claims about the 2020 US election. Their faces were superimposed on the bodies of apes, accompanied for a moment by the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. CNN said it had reached out to the Obamas for comment.
Several Republican lawmakers publicly condemned the post. New York Rep. Mike Lawler called it "wrong and incredibly offensive."
"The President's post is wrong and incredibly offensive whether intentional or a mistake and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered," Lawler wrote on X.
Rep. Nick LaLota of New York also urged Trump to delete the post, while GOP Sens. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, both close White House allies, called for an apology.
"This is totally unacceptable," Wicker wrote on X. "The president should take it down and apologise."
US Rep. Mike Turner also condemned the video, writing on X, "I do not feel the need to respond to every inflammatory statement made by the White House. However, the release of racist images of former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama is offensive, heartbreaking, and unacceptable. President Trump should apologise."
https://x.com/RepMikeTurner/status/2019830561691558146
Democrats also reacted strongly. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote on X, "The overnight post from the President of the United States is nothing but vile, racist filth. He should be ashamed of himself, if he were capable of shame. Taking it down is not enough. The White House must apologize for this beyond disgusting behavior."
https://x.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/2019826651643973986
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt had earlier defended the post, saying, "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 and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."
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