- On February 7, 2026, Trump shared the video, which combines pseudo-documentary imagery and graphics to promote the "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was stolen, and includes a one-second clip of the Obamas as apes with smiling faces, according to Kevin Reed of the World Socialist Web Site.
- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the incident, calling it "feigned" or "fake outrage" and instructing the press to "cover something that genuinely concerns the American public," while Republican Senator Tim Scott denounced the video as "the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House."
- The video was eventually removed from Trump's Truth Social feed amid mounting criticism, but not before it was widely condemned by both Democrats and Republicans, with Trump himself refusing to admit any wrongdoing, stating "No, I didn't make a mistake" and presenting himself as the victim of hypersensitive critics and dishonest media.
JUSTICE MATTERS
The World Socialist Web Site explicitly describes the video as "racist" and notes that it "fuses the cult of the leader, the stolen election lie and the racist language already familiar to Trump’s fascist milieu of supporters." In contrast, the BBC and New York Times use more sanitized language, with the BBC stating that the clip "depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes" was "racist" but framing it as an "internet meme video," and the New York Times describing it as "blatantly racist" but focusing on Trump's refusal to apologize. Meanwhile, NPR refers to the video as a "racist meme," but omits discussion of the video's broader context and the White House's initial defense of the clip, which is highlighted in the World Socialist Web Site's coverage.
Cross-referenced with: BBC, New York Times, NPR
EPSTEIN FILES NOTE
Donald Trump appeared in flight logs, black book, emails, and photos released by the DOJ.
