US President Donald Trump and the White House have removed an AI-generated video showing racist footage of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama following massive backlash.
US President Donald Trump and the White House have removed an AI-generated video showing racist footage of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama following massive backlash. The video drew criticism because it depicted President Obama like a primate in a jungle. The post was first posted by Trump and reshared by the White House on Friday, but was quickly deleted from both social media handles.
The post drew widespread backlash from civil rights leaders to veteran Republican senators over the treatment of the nation’s first black president and first lady, and was quickly blamed on staffers. In a rare example, the White House acknowledged its mistake. But the removal came hours after US spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt tried to defend the move.
She initially denied any “fake outrage” over the post, but it sparked further backlash. The White House ultimately placed the blame on a staffer, claiming that the staffer had “erroneously” shared the information. The post was part of a series of activity overnight on President Trump’s Truth social accounts that amplified President Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, even though courts across the country and attorneys general in President Trump’s first term found no evidence of systemic fraud.
Making matters worse is the fact that the post was posted during the first week of Black History Month and just days after President Trump’s proclamation cited “the contributions of Black Americans to our nation’s greatness” and “America’s principles of freedom, justice, and equality.” President Obama’s press secretary said the former president, a Democrat, had no response on the matter.
Video content
The 62-second clip appears to be from a video by conservatives alleging that voting machines in battleground states were intentionally tampered with as 2020 votes were counted. At the 60-second mark, there’s a short scene of two jungle primates, with the Obamas’ smiling faces pressed against them.
That particular frame comes from another video previously distributed by an influential conservative meme creator. It describes President Trump as the “king of the jungle” and portrays Democratic leaders, including Joe Biden, who is white, as jungle primates who eat bananas.
“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,'” Levitt said in a text in response. However, Disney’s 1994 feature film Leavitt mentioned was set in a savannah, not a jungle, and did not feature great apes. “Stop the false outrage and start reporting on the things that actually matter to the American people today,” Levitt added.
By noon, the post had been removed from both President Trump’s and the White House’s social media platforms. Condemnation came from all sides, including demands for an apology, but by late afternoon there had been no response.
Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only black Republican in the U.S. Senate, called on Trump to resign from his post. “I hope it’s fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve ever seen in this White House,” said Scott, who chairs the Senate Republican Midterm Campaign Committee.
Another Republican, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, is white but represents the state with the largest percentage of black residents. Wicker called the post “totally unacceptable” and said the president should apologize.
Information provided by The Associated Press.
