Backlash trails Trump video showing Obama, wife as monkeys

United States President Donald Trump is facing a wave of backlash after sharing an election conspiracy video on his Truth Social platform that briefly portrayed former president Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.

The one-minute clip, posted on Thursday, recycled false claims that Dominion Voting Systems helped rig the 2020 presidential election against Trump. Near the end of the video, the Obamas’ faces appeared superimposed on monkey bodies for about a second, with the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” playing in the background.

By early Friday, the post had attracted thousands of likes, but it also ignited condemnation from political figures and social media users who described the imagery as racist and deeply offensive.

The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom reacted strongly on X, saying: “Disgusting behaviour by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”

Ben Rhodes, a former top national security adviser and close ally of Obama, also weighed in: “Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a stain on our history.”

Obama, the only Black president in U.S. history, actively campaigned for Trump’s opponent, Kamala Harris, during the 2024 election.

The controversy has again spotlighted Trump’s frequent use of hyper-realistic, AI-generated visuals on his social media platforms, often aimed at ridiculing opponents while energising his political base.

In previous posts, Trump shared an AI video depicting Obama being arrested in the Oval Office and another clip showing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake moustache and sombrero — an image Jeffries described as racist.

The latest post triggered reactions from several X users across the globe.

An X user, African, @ali_naka, wrote: “When we told the Non-Thinkers in Kenyan that when Trump Insults Somalia, he is insulting an entire race, they thought we were imagining things. Obama has Kenyan Roots and this is what Trump thinks of him.”

Republicans Against Trump, @RpsAgainstTrump, posted: “Trump just posted a video on Truth Social that includes a racist image of Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys. There’s no bottom.”

Richard Woodruff, @frontlinekit, wrote: “The F*CKING President of the United States of America just casually posted that all Black Americans are monkeys to him.

“First he fucks kids, then he shoots Americans in the street, now he calls the Obamas fucking monkeys. F*CK TRUMP. Do something TODAY, America!!!!”

Harry Sisson, @harryjsisson, stated: “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.”

Mohamad Safa, @mhdksafa, added: “Welcome to America where president gets away with racism! President Trump just posted a video of President Obama and his wife portraying Black people as monkeys! Racism in its ugliest form!

“Trump didn’t make America racist… He made the racists feel comfortable enough to show their racism in public.

“This type of speech, whether international or local, that fuels racism and hatred is unacceptable in our world today.

“Our world is not divided by race, color, gender, or religion. Our world is divided into wise people and fools. And fools divide themselves by race, color, gender, or religion.

“No one is born racist, they’re taught racism, stop teaching it. Stop pretending your racism is patriotic.”

The incident comes amid renewed criticism of Trump’s rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes since returning to office. One of his earliest actions was the termination of federal DEI initiatives, including related policies within the military.

His administration’s drive to eliminate what he calls “woke” policies has also reportedly led to the removal of books addressing racial discrimination from some military academy libraries.

U.S. anti-discrimination policies trace their roots to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, led largely by Black Americans seeking justice and equality after centuries of slavery and institutional racism.