President Donald Trump has defiantly stated he made "no mistake" in sharing a video on his Truth Social account that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, refusing to apologize despite bipartisan outrage.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One late Friday, Trump defended the post. “I didn’t make a mistake,” he insisted. He claimed he did not watch the entire clip before posting it. “I didn’t see the whole thing. I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud in the machines... Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t.”
When pressed on whether he condemned the video's racist content, Trump replied, “Of course I do.”
The video, which promoted a conspiracy theory about 2020 election voting machines, included the offensive depiction of the Obamas. It remained on his account for about 12 hours before being deleted Friday morning after widespread condemnation.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had defended the post in a statement, calling it "an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King." She urged critics to "stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."
Hours after her statement, the video was removed.
The incident has sparked a fresh debate about the use of racially charged imagery and AI-generated content in political discourse, as well as the responsibilities of a sitting president in vetting material shared on his official platforms.
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