US President Donald Trump sparked widespread outrage this week after sharing a short video on his Truth Social platform that included a brief, racist-charged clip showing former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama with their faces superimposed on the bodies of monkeys. The minute-long post, which also repeats unsubstantiated claims about the 2020 election, appeared late Thursday and quickly drew condemnation from political leaders and civil rights groups, especially given that it came during Black History Month. Critics called the imagery a harmful racial trope with deep historical roots in dehumanizing Black people. 

While the White House defended the post as part of an “internet meme” meant to portray Trump as the “King of the Jungle” and downplayed the backlash as “fake outrage,” prominent figures from both parties  including Republican Senator Tim Scott and California Governor Gavin Newsom  urged Trump to remove the video and apologize. Civil rights organizations also denounced the content as offensive, underscoring the broader concerns about racial insensitivity in political discourse.