US President Donald Trump has removed a social media video that included a clip depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys, which prompted widespread outrage.
In a minute-long video posted on Truth Social, the Obamas' faces are superimposed onto the bodies of monkeys, shown smiling and dancing to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Republican senator Tim Scott, who is black, had called for the president to remove the post, labelling it "the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House".
The White House initially defended the clip as an "internet meme video" and told critics to "stop the fake outrage".
But it has since been deleted following enormous backlash, with a White House official claiming a staffer had “erroneously” made the post.
The clip, which is reminiscent of racist caricatures of the 20th century, appears to be taken from an X post shared by conservative meme creator Xerias in October.
The full video repeats the disproven allegations of voter fraud by ballot-counting company Dominion Voting Systems during the 2020 election.
Trump continues to claim the company helped “steal” the 2020 presidential election from him, despite them settling for $787.5 million with Fox News in 2023 in a landmark defamation lawsuit over similar claims made by the channel.
As of Friday morning, the video had been liked more than 2,500 times.
The fresh attack on the Obamas sparked immediate outrage with users on social media, which was shared during Black History Month.
The press office of California governor Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, posted on X: “Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
Former deputy national security adviser and Obama confidant Ben Rhodes said: “Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a stain on our history.”
Political strategist Adam Parkhomenko posted: “This is overt racism. Full stop. There’s no ‘misinterpretation’ and no excuse. This is who he is, who he’s always been, and why he should never be anywhere near power again.”
Barack Obama left the White House nine years ago, and backed Kamala Harris against Trump in the run up to the 2024 presidential election.
Trump has often attacked the Obamas, and was an early champion of the “birther” conspiracy theory against Obama, claiming that he was not born in the United States, even after Hawaii verified Obama's birth certificate.
The video was just one of over 60 posts Trump made on Truth Social over a three hour period, with further posts related to a Trump Accounts Super Bowl ad, video clips relating to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, calls to add his face to Mount Rushmore, and a screenshot of an X post claiming Democrats were “anti-Christ, anti-family, anti-Black and anti-life”.
Trump has posted a number of videos generated by AI on Truth Social and other platforms, often glorifying himself while lampooning his critics, since his return to the White House.
Last year, he posted an AI video showing Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office and appearing behind bars in an orange jumpsuit.
