US President Donald Trump has faced widespread condemnation for sharing a video on his social media account that depicts former Presidents Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. The video, which has since been taken down, was part of a series of clips Trump shared late at night, including false claims about the 2020 presidential election.
The post sparked an outpouring of bipartisan outrage, with many Republicans calling for Trump to remove it, despite his initial claim that he had only watched the start of the clip. Democrats seized on the incident as another example of Trump’s long history of insensitive remarks and racist behavior. The White House initially defended the video as an “internet meme”, but later said the post was shared by a staffer not the president.
The incident highlights Trump’s struggles to manage his online presence and his tendency to stoke outrage, with some Republicans facing punishing re-election campaigns ahead as the country nears its November midterm elections.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/6/republicans-condemn-racist-trump-video-post-depicting-obamas-as-apes