Updated at 12:15 p.m. ET: The post containing the offending video on President Trump’s Truth Social account was deleted Friday morning. The White House blamed the incident on an unidentified employee who “accidentally” shared information to the president’s account.
President Donald Trump posted a racist AI-generated video on his Truth social account late Thursday that depicts the Obamas as monkeys.
The 62-second video, shared by the US president at 11:44 p.m. ET, primarily perpetuates conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, alleging that voting machines in certain battleground states were rigged to favor Joe Biden. In the final seconds of the segment, Barack and Michelle Obama are shown smiling and dancing to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in a jungle with their heads on top of a monkey’s body.
As of Friday morning, the clip was still available on Trump’s account.
In response to a request for comment from varietyWhite House press secretary Caroline Levitt said in an emailed statement: “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 start reporting on what actually matters to the American people today.”
The full AI video cited by the White House was posted in October 2025, and in addition to depicting the Obamas as monkeys, Trump is depicted as a lion. Democrats who appeared in the video included Joe Biden as a baboon, Kamala Harris as a turtle, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as a zebra, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as a meerkat, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a donkey, New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani as a hyena, and Hillary Clinton as a warthog.
The watermark on the “Lion King” video indicates that the account @xerias_x was created. This is the same account that created an AI-generated video that President Trump shared on Truth Social in October 2025, showing him riding a fighter jet, dressed as a king, and dumping tons of feces on No Kings protesters in New York City.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom’s X newsroom called the video posting of the Obamas like monkeys a “disgusting action by the president” and called on “all Republicans” to “condemn this.”
From US Variety
