On February 5-6, 2026, President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account shared a roughly 62-second video that promoted claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, specifically alleging irregularities with voting machines in battleground states. The clip, reposted from a conservative source, focused on vote tampering and stolen election data.
Near the end of the video, a brief segment one to two seconds clip played. It showed former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s faces superimposed onto the bodies of apes (or primates) in a jungle setting, accompanied by the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The imagery drew from an existing internet meme, sometimes framed in pro-Trump circles as a “Lion King” parody where Trump is positioned as the “king” and political opponents as various animals.
The post quickly sparked widespread outrage, with critics across the political spectrum labeling the depiction as overtly racist. It evoked a long history of derogatory stereotypes that have been used to dehumanize Black individuals, including during Barack Obama’s own campaigns and presidency. Bipartisan condemnation followed: Democratic figures like California Gov. Gavin Newsom called it “disgusting behavior,” while Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina—the only Black Republican in the Senate at the time—described it as “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” and urged its immediate removal.
Here is the full meme video in question. pic.twitter.com/nY2boKlhJu
— Anthony Brian Logan (ABL)
(@ANTHONYBLOGAN) February 6, 2026
A white liberal in Minneapolis said “you’re next n*gga” to a black ICE agent while her cohorts screamed and blew whistles like children. pic.twitter.com/Ba6RLKn0jb
— Anthony Brian Logan (ABL)
The White House initially defended the post through Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who dismissed the backlash as “fake outrage” and described the clip as part of an “internet meme video” referencing The Lion King. However, amid mounting criticism—including from some Republican allies—the video was deleted from Truth Social within about 12 hours.
A White House official later attributed the sharing to a staff member who “erroneously made the post,” suggesting it was an unintended mistake rather than deliberate action by the president himself. Trump did not personally comment on the incident in detail. The video appears to be screen recording from X/Twitter in which videos auto-play after one video is finished playing.
The episode highlighted ongoing risks in the rapid sharing of unvetted social media content, especially memes and AI-influenced or edited clips that can carry inflammatory undertones. While the core video aimed to revisit 2020 election grievances—a recurring theme for Trump and his supporters—the inclusion of the racially charged meme overshadowed that message and drew unified backlash, forcing a quick retraction and damage-control explanation from the administration.
SOURCES:
Trump removes video with racist clip depicting Obamas as apes
Trump Deletes Racist Video Portraying the Obamas as Apes – The New York Times
Live updates: Trump’s racist post about Obamas is deleted after backlash | AP News
White House removes video shared by Trump showing Obamas as apes | US News | Sky News
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