President Obama said Americans still value “courtesy, civility and kindness.”
President Obama condemned a video shared on President Trump’s Truth social account last week(Image: Getty Images)
President Barack Obama condemned the racist video spread by President Donald Trump, saying the incident was a disturbing reflection of today’s political climate.
In a newly released interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, the former US president addressed a clip featuring an animated monkey with the faces of Obama and Michelle Obama edited out after it briefly appeared on President Trump’s Truth social account earlier this month.
Obama, 64, did not mention Trump by name, but said Americans still believe in “courtesy, civility, [and] “Kindness” even as social media amplifies the “clown show” of hateful content he described.
The former president also criticized the growing lack of restraint in political discourse, noting that the standards once expected of public figures are being eroded.
He said, “There used to be civility, but it’s gone.”
The clip appeared at the end of a montage pushing unproven claims about the 2020 election, but it was removed after sparking widespread backlash.
This was part of a series of activities that amplified Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. The allegations were proven without merit, as several courts and the 79-year-old attorney general, who is in his first term, found no evidence of wrongdoing that could have affected the outcome.
Pursued by reporters the next day, Trump refused to apologize, insisting he had done nothing wrong and that he had not seen the entire video before posting it.
His wife Michelle, 62, has not commented publicly.
Spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt defended President Trump in a statement to PEOPLE, saying the clip was simply “an internet meme video that portrays President Trump as king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.”
He added, “Please stop making false accusations…”
Shortly after, the White House issued a follow-up statement claiming that the post had been uploaded “in error” by a staffer and was removed after realizing the mistake. The person responsible has not been identified.
When reporters asked President Trump on February 12 whether the staffer had been “fired or disciplined,” he flatly denied the idea.
