Obama's First Comment on Trump's "Monkey Video"

Archival Photos of Barack and Michelle Obama

Trump's First Comment on the "Offensive" Video of Obama and His Wife: "I Will Not Apologize for Posting the Video"

Former US President Barack Obama criticized the "lack of decency and decorum" in the country's political discourse and responded, for the first time, to a post on Donald Trump's account depicting him and his wife, Michelle Obama, as monkeys.

US President Donald Trump said he would not apologize for posting the racist video of former US President Barack Obama and his wife, adding, "I did nothing wrong."

Trump confirmed that he did not watch the entire video depicting the former Democratic president, Obama, and his wife, Michelle, as monkeys before posting it on his social media accounts, adding that he did not feel he had done anything wrong. Trump explained that he watched the beginning of the video, which focused on allegations of election fraud, and gave it to unnamed staff members to post.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for the weekend, "Nobody knew that was it. If they had seen it, they would have seen it, and maybe they would have had the common sense to take it down." The White House commented on the video Friday, dismissing the "manufactured outrage" in the comments following its release.

White House spokeswoman Carolyn Leavitt said in a statement to AFP, "This clip is taken from a satirical online video that portrays President Trump as the king of the jungle and the Democrats as characters from The Lion King." Leavitt added, "Please, stop with the manufactured outrage and talk about the issues that are really on the minds of the American people today."

On Thursday, Trump posted a nearly one-minute video on TruthSocial promoting an election conspiracy theory. The video ends with a brief appearance of the faces of President Obama and his wife Michelle superimposed on two monkeys. The video reiterated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, which Trump lost to his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028 and one of Trump's most vocal critics, condemned the video. His press office posted on X: "Disgusting behavior from the president. Every Republican should condemn this. Now."

Ben Rhodes, a senior National Security Council official under Obama, also condemned Trump's post, writing on X: "Trump and his followers should be concerned that future Americans will celebrate the Obamas as beloved figures, while he will be seen as a stain on our history."