President Donald Trump posted a video on his social media platform featuring election conspiracy theories and a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as primates in a jungle, drawing renewed criticism over his online rhetoric.
The Republican president's Thursday night post immediately drew backlash for its treatment of the nation's first Black president and first lady. It was part of a flurry of social media activity that amplified Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, despite courts around the country and a Trump attorney general from his first term finding no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected criticism of the post that depicted the Obamas, who are Democrats. An Obama spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Nearly all of the 62-second clip, which was among dozens of Truth Social posts from Trump overnight, appears to be from a conservative video alleging deliberate tampering with voting machines in battleground states as the 2020 presidential votes were tallied. At the 60-second mark is a quick scene of two primates, with the Obamas' smiling faces imposed on them.
