White House deletes Truth Social post portraying Obamas as apes

2026, February 7

United States

The White House has deleted a post on Donald Trump's social media account containing a video portraying former United States President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama as apes.

The video triggered a backlash from American politicians, including from Trump's own Republican Party.

After initially defending the post, the White House removed the post from Trump's account in response to backlash, according to the BBC.

A White House official stated that a staff member had mistakenly posted the video.

Trump himself has stated that he did not see the full video prior to it being posted and according to ABC News Australia, he refused to apologize, stating "I didn't make a mistake. I mean, I give - I look at a lot - thousands of things."

Senator Tim Scott, who is both African American and a Republican, referred to the video as "the most racist thing I've ever seen out of this White House."

The video, which lasts 62 seconds, used the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight as background music and references allegations of electoral fraud in the 2020 United States presidential election.

In addition to the Obamas, it portrays various other Democratic Party politicians as animals, such as United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Former United States President Joe Biden, like the Obamas, is portrayed as an ape eating a banana.

According to the BBC, the video is believed to have originated from conservative meme creator Xerias, who shared the post on X in October 2025.