Trump depicted President Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama as apes during Black History Month
President Trump posted a video of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, which is an outrageous and often well-received depiction of Black people. The depiction of Black people during Black History Month as apes has been a long-standing trope used to justify slavery, racial segregation, and racial hatred. I am certain many Whites, Asians, Hispanics, and some Blacks believe they were descended from apes. Trump knows his audience. A man in Minnesota chastised a woman from Rochester, Minnesota, for calling a 5-year-old boy “nigger,” a substitute word for the word “ape.” The woman raised over $700,000 through a Christian fundraising platform. Trump shared the video on his website, “Truth Social,” at 11:44 p.m. Thursday. ” The 55-second-long video appears to be generated by AI and opens with Obama and Michelle Obama’s heads superimposed onto apes’ bodies. The original video depicts numerous Democrats as animals, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a warthog, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a donkey, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer as a zebra. Former President Joe Biden also appears as a primate, and former Vice President Kamala Harris is pictured as a turtle. Mr. Trump is portrayed in the video as a lion. The White House blamed a staffer for the video posted to Trump’s Truth Social account and said the post had been removed. The White House had earlier defended the post and downplayed the video’s response, calling it “a fake outrage.” But just before noon, an official told CNN, “A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.” The statement came after serious backlash, including from GOP Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, who called the post racist and said Trump should remove it. “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it,” the South Carolina Republican, who’s also the chair of the Senate GOP campaign committee, wrote on X. By that time, the video had been up for nearly 12 hours. A GOP Senate official said Republican lawmakers called Trump to discuss the post with him.The footage shared by Mr. Trump was swiftly condemned by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York echoed Scott’s call for Mr. Trump to delete the Truth Social post. “The President’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered,” Lawler said in a post on X. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Republicans should denounce what he called the president’s “disgusting bigotry.” “President Obama and Michelle Obama are brilliant, compassionate, and patriotic Americans. They represent the best of this country. Donald Trump is a vile, unhinged, and malignant bottom feeder,” Jeffries wrote on X. “Why are GOP leaders like John Thune continuing to stand by this sick individual?”Gov. Gavin Newsom, a California Democrat who frequently spars with the president, denounced the video shared by Mr. Trump late Thursday.”Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now,” his press office wrote on social media.  |