Sen. Tim Scott asked President Trump to delete his social media post on Friday that portrayed the Obamas as apes, calling it "the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House."
- The post was later taken down, per a White House official who said it was made in error by a staffer.
Why it matters: Republicans rarely engage with the backlash to Trump posts. But Scott (R-S.C.), the only Black Republican in the Senate, responded quickly.
- Scott, who leads the Senate Republican campaign arm, posted Friday that he was "praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House. The President should remove it."
Driving the news: Trump's Thursday post, made at 11:44pm ET, depicts former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes in an AI meme video portraying Trump as King of the Jungle.
- "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from [T]he Lion King," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
- Black people being depicted as apes or monkeys is a centuries-old trope used for dehumanization and humiliation.
- The post was ultimately taken down after being live for about 12 hours.
Between the lines: Trump's post roiled his White House, as staffers reflexively defended the president's post —even they were besieged with calls from fellow Republicans begging him to take it down, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
- Scott's post on X came after he reached out to the president privately but was unable to reach him, that source said.
The intrigue: White House staffers were reluctant to share what happened and may not have inquired, an outside Trump adviser said.
- "In cases like these, you don't want to ask and you don't want to know," the adviser said.
Zoom out: Trump spent years falsely pushing the "birther" conspiracy theory that Barack Obama wasn't born in the U.S.
- He's long been criticized for racist comments directed at individuals like the Obamas and former Vice President Kamala Harris — and groups of people like immigrants from Africa and Haiti.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with details throughout.
