President Donald Trump on Friday refused to apologize or admit any error after sharing, and later deleting, a video on his Truth Social platform that included a racist clip portraying former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One late Friday, Trump insisted he made “no mistake” in posting the content and has no intention of offering an apology.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said.
The roughly minute-long video, posted late Thursday night, primarily promoted false claims of voter fraud and irregularities in voting machines related to the 2020 election. However, near the end, it featured a brief, offensive segment, reportedly AI-generated, showing the Obamas’ faces superimposed onto the bodies of apes, set to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Trump explained that he had only viewed the initial portion of the clip before directing it to be shared.
“I didn’t see the whole thing. I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud in the machines, how crooked it is, how disgusting it is,” he said. “Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t.”
The post drew swift bipartisan condemnation, including from several Republican lawmakers who called it offensive and urged its removal. The video was taken down from Truth Social after several hours amid the backlash. White House officials initially defended the post as originating from an “internet meme,” but later attributed the sharing to a staff member’s error.
When pressed directly on whether he condemned the racist imagery in the video, Trump responded, “Of course I do.”
