Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., posted on X Friday morning that a video President Donald Trump shared depicting the Obamas as apes was “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” and that he prayed it was fake. Scott is the only Black Republican in the Senate.
The video in question was a short clip depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes at the end of a video promoting conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Trump posted the video late Thursday night in a spree on Truth Social where he made over 60 posts. The video no longer appears on his Truth Social feed as of Friday afternoon.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
“Even if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this,” Republican Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska said on X. “The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize.”
The original video shows the Obamas along with other notable Democrats like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as animals. Depicting the Obamas as apes harkens back to racist imagery that demonizes Black people as less-evolved humans.
Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it. https://t.co/gADoM13ssZ
— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) February 6, 2026
More Republican lawmakers entered the conversation Friday. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said on X, “The President’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.” Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker posted, “This is totally unacceptable. The president should take it down and apologize.”
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This is not the first time the White House has defended AI-altered images and misleading posts as “memes.”
The White House posted an image of Black activist Nekima Levy Armstrong being arrested after involvement in a Minnesota church protest depicting her hysterically crying. The photo was altered by AI, with the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posting the original photo of Armstong with a blank expression. The White House’s post also appears to have darkened Armstrong’s skin.
White House Deputy Communications Director Kaelen Dorr posted to X addressing the doctored photo. “YET AGAIN to the people who feel the need to reflexively defend perpetrators of heinous crimes in our country I share with you this message: Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue.”
