Former United States president Barack Obama publicly criticized an AI-generated video shared from Donald Trump’s account that depicts Barack and Michelle Obama with ape bodies. He characterized the incident as part of a broader decline in political standards and norms.

The video, widely circulated on social media, uses artificial intelligence tools to place the Obamas’ faces onto animal bodies. The imagery aligns with a documented historical pattern of racist caricatures directed at Black public figures. Civil rights organizations and media monitoring groups have identified the clip as an example of how generative AI can replicate and amplify existing prejudices.

After an initial period without comment, Obama addressed the matter in a televised news talk show interview. Without naming Trump directly, he described the video as indicative of a wider erosion of shame and decorum in American political life.

Obama stated that there is a “clown show” dynamic on social media and television and argued that individuals who previously adhered to norms of decorum, propriety, and respect for public office no longer appear constrained by those standards.

Trump has declined to issue an apology. He has asserted that he did not see the segment of the video depicting the Obamas and suggested that staff members, rather than he personally, were responsible for posting it. Critics view this explanation as unpersuasive in light of Trump’s established history of inflammatory statements about Obama, including his repeated use of Obama’s full name in a manner opponents interpret as intended to provoke resentment.

The incident has renewed discussion about the obligations of political leaders in an environment where generative AI enables rapid creation and dissemination of manipulated media. Legal analysts note that such content may fall under protected speech, but they also emphasize that its use by high-profile political figures can legitimize racist narratives and intensify social polarization.

Obama’s comments suggest he interprets the episode less as a personal slight and more as an indicator of institutional and cultural stress within American democracy. He presented the video as one instance within a broader pattern in which political communication increasingly prioritizes spectacle and hostility over adherence to established democratic norms.