Last updated:
The video received thousands of likes on President Trump’s platform and drew sharp criticism from Democrats and celebrities.
Near the end, the Obamas’ faces appear on the monkey’s body for about a second.
US President Donald Trump sparked widespread outrage after posting a video on his platform Truth Social that depicts former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as monkeys.
A minute-long video shared by the US president on Thursday focuses primarily on false claims that vote-counting company Dominion Voting Systems helped steal the 2020 election from President Trump.
Near the end, the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays in the background, and the Obamas’ faces appear on the monkey’s body for about a second.
As of early Friday morning, the video had garnered thousands of likes on Trump’s platform and drew harsh criticism from Democrats and celebrities.
The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, condemned the post. Newsom’s news office tweeted: “This is disgusting behavior by the president. All Republicans must condemn this. Now.”
Ben Rhodes, a former national security adviser and close ally of Barack Obama, also spoke. “Let Trump and his racists know that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying them as a stain on our history,” he wrote to X.
Let Trump and his racists know that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying them as a stain on history. https://t.co/zDMdFtESJ3 — Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) February 6, 2026
Barack Obama is the only black president in U.S. history and actively campaigned for Trump’s opponent in the 2024 election, Kamala Harris.
Since returning to the White House, President Trump has increasingly used artificial intelligence and surreal images to attack his critics. Last year, he posted a video of President Obama walking into a bar wearing an orange jumpsuit. He also shared an AI clip of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake mustache and sombrero, which Jeffries criticized as racist.
One of Trump’s first actions after returning to office was to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government, including the military. The removal of related books from bookshelves at military academies has also sparked controversy.
These programs date back to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and were established to address systemic racism that continued after the abolition of slavery in 1865.
(Information provided by agency)
United States of America (USA)
February 6, 2026, 18:01 IST
read more
