Hakeem Jeffries on Friday criticized President Donald Trump for not addressing the racist AI video of the Obamas sitting in it, using crude language unbecoming of the House minority leader.
“Donald Trump and his vile, racist and malicious actions,” the Democratic politician said in an Instagram video Friday afternoon, adding that the “so-called president’s” video was “disgusting” and “done on purpose,” no matter what the White House says.
“This guy is a no-brainer,” Jeffries said. “President Obama and Michelle Obama are smart, caring, and patriotic Americans. They represent the best of this country. Now is the time. [Senate Majority Leader] John Tune [House Speaker] Mike Johnson and the Republican Party condemn this serial fraudster who sits at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue posing as the President of the United States. ”
Watch Jeffries’ full takedown below.
The 12-hour video, posted live by President Trump on his personal Truth Social account and later deleted, shows former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as dancing monkeys, with artificial intelligence-generated photos of their heads placed above what appear to be chimpanzee bodies in the jungle.
Spokesperson Caroline Leavitt, who soundtracked The Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” dismissed widespread outrage over the video footage as a “fake outrage” and claimed it was nothing more than “an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the king of the jungle.”
CNN White House correspondent Alaina Treen reported earlier Friday that the post had been deleted and that a senior White House official said a White House staffer “posted it in error.”
According to other reports, the White House claimed President Trump had nothing to do with the post and did not see it.
Jeffries was not the only politician to express disdain for the footage, which elsewhere depicted Hillary Clinton as a warthog and New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani as a hyena.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office responded to X, writing, “This is a disgusting action by the president. All Republicans must condemn this. Now.”
