Former President Barack Obama spoke out following a controversial video shared on former President Donald Trump’s social media account depicting him and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, calling the incident a “clown show,” reports Baltimore Chronicle with reference to ABC. The video, posted on February 5 at 11:44 p.m., was removed hours later amid growing bipartisan criticism. The post initially referenced debunked claims about the 2020 election and ended with the Obamas’ faces superimposed on the bodies of apes while the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” played.
During an interview with podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama emphasized that most Americans find such behavior deeply troubling. He added, “There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television. What is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety, and respect for the office, right? So, that’s been lost.”
President Trump has stated that he has not disciplined or fired the staffer responsible for posting the video, claiming he did not see the entire clip before it was published. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially dismissed criticism as “fake outrage” and described the animation as an internet meme portraying Trump as king of the jungle and Democrats as various animals. Later, a White House official attributed the post to an error by a staffer.
When questioned by ABC News on February 6 about whether he condemned the racist content of the video, Trump responded, “Of course I do.” He added, when asked about a message for Americans offended by the video, “Well, I have no message. I didn’t know about it, so I mean, it went up. I really have no message.”
The video, which lasted about one minute, prompted swift backlash across social media and political circles, highlighting continuing tensions over race, social media conduct, and political discourse in the United States.
Earlier we wrote that Grand Jury Rejects Indictment of Six Democrats Over Military Video
