During a recent appearance on Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast, Barack Obama offered his reaction after an AI video was posted to Donald Trump’s Truth social account that depicted the former president and his wife, Michelle, as monkeys. President Obama began his thoughts by calmly stating, “It’s important to recognize that the vast majority of Americans find this behavior extremely concerning.”
“It’s true that it attracts attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction. But as I travel around the country, you travel around the country, you meet people who still believe in courtesy, civility and kindness. And on social media and on TV, there’s this kind of clown show going on,” he said. “And the truth is, there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like they had to have some kind of decorum. And there’s also a sense of decorum and respect for the office, right? So, that’s been lost.”
White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt initially sought to defend the Feb. 6 post as an “Internet meme” and urged news organizations to “report on the things that actually matter to the American people today.” However, the backlash from both sides of the political spectrum was so great that the video was removed nearly 12 hours later.
After the racist video was removed, the White House tried to shift the blame to an anonymous staffer who “accidentally” shared it on President Trump’s account. Hours later, the president appeared to dispute that claim, telling The Associated Press he “didn’t make a mistake” and instead gave the video to an aide to post.
President Trump said, “I liked the first part. I just saw it and passed it on. I don’t think anyone reviewed it until the end.”
