US President Donald Trump has shared an AI-generated video on his social media platforms that depicts former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
Late on Thursday, February 5th, President Trump shared a video on Truth Social centered around his claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
The video ends with an AI-generated clip of the former president and his face on a monkey’s body, set to the song. the lion sleeps tonight By The Tokens.
The post, which echoes a long-standing racist metaphor that compares black people to monkeys, sparked an immediate backlash and drew widespread condemnation across the political spectrum.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, called the post racist, adding, “I hope it’s fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen in this White House. The president should remove it.” CNN.
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office condemned the video in a post to X, writing, “Disgusting action by the president. All Republicans must condemn this. Now.”
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said in a statement that the image came from a social media meme.
He added: “This is from an internet meme video that portrays President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. Stop the false outrage and report on what actually matters to the American people today.”
This is not the first time a president has shared controversial content involving a former president, last year he posted an apparent AI video of President Obama being arrested in the Oval Office.
