US President Donald Trump refused to apologise Friday after posting and then deleting a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle, insisting he had not seen the offensive content and blaming a staffer for the mistake.
The video was posted late Thursday night and remained online for nearly 12 hours before it was removed amid bipartisan outrage, including criticism from close Trump allies. The White House initially defended the post and dismissed the backlash as “fake outrage,” but later said a staffer had posted the video in error.
