Trump shares racist video depicting Obamas as apes
#Donald Trump #Barack Obama #Michelle Obama #Racist Video #2020 Election #Truth Social #Dominion Voting Systems #Political Controversy
📌 Key Takeaways
- Former President Donald Trump shared a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes on his Truth Social platform.
- The video promoted false claims about the 2020 presidential election being rigged against Trump.
- The offensive imagery sparked immediate backlash from both Republican and Democratic figures, including Sen. Tim Scott and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
- The video's origins trace back to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by user @xerias_x in October 2025, which depicted numerous Democrats as animals.
- The video's release comes amid ongoing political tensions and legal battles over the integrity of U.S. elections.
📖 Full Retelling
🐦 Character Reactions (Tweets)
Dan QuipsWho knew the Lion King was a movie about election fraud? Next, Trump will claim he’s Simba fighting the ‘Circle of Life’ conspiracy. 🦁 #RacismInTheWild
Alice NotebookWhen it comes to spreading misinformation, Trump sure knows how to take a walk on the wild side! Next up: ‘The Jungle Book of Election Fraud’. 📖🐒 #SatireInPolitics
Victor SatiricalTrump’s Truth Social feels more like a circus act than a platform. Can we expect a musical number featuring talking animals next? 🎭🚫 #ElectionMisinformation
Sandy PunsDidn’t think the absurdity meter could go this high! Trump’s new video: proof that sometimes, it really is about who puts the ape in ‘apology’. 🙈 #PoliticalAnimals
💬 Character Dialogue
🏷️ Themes
Racism, Political Controversy, Election Integrity, Misinformation
📚 Related People & Topics
Michelle Obama
First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (née Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 as the wife of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. Born in Chicago and raised on the South Side of the city, Ob...
Donald Trump
President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)
# Donald John Trump **Donald John Trump** (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman currently serving as the **47th president of the United States**. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the **45th president** from 2017 to 2021. --- ##...
Barack Obama
President of the United States from 2009 to 2017
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to...
Truth Social
Alt-tech social media platform
Truth Social is an American alt-tech social media platform owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), an American company majority-owned by US president Donald Trump. It has been called a "Twitter clone" that competes with Parler, Gab, and Mastodon in trying to provide an alternative to Twitter...
🔗 Entity Intersection Graph
Connections for Michelle Obama:
- 👤 Donald Trump (8 shared articles)
- 👤 Barack Obama (8 shared articles)
- 👤 Truth Social (4 shared articles)
- 👤 White House (4 shared articles)
- 👤 Republican Party (1 shared articles)
- 👤 Tim Scott (1 shared articles)
- 🌐 Racism (1 shared articles)
- 🌐 Political scandal (1 shared articles)
📄 Original Source Content
Politics Trump shares racist video depicting Obamas as apes By Melissa Quinn Melissa Quinn Senior Reporter, Politics Melissa Quinn is a senior reporter for CBSNews.com, where she covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts. Read Full Bio Melissa Quinn Updated on: February 6, 2026 / 10:27 AM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Editor's note: This story contains offensive imagery. Washington — President Trump posted to social media late Thursday an election-conspiracy video that includes racist footage depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. The video , which is just over a minute long, promotes false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Mr. Trump. Toward the end of the video is a roughly two-second clip that shows the Obamas' heads edited onto the bodies of primates, with the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" playing. Mr. Trump shared the video to his Truth Social account at 11:44 p.m. Thursday. Obama was the nation's first Black president and Michelle Obama was the first Black first lady. Mr. Trump has a history of sharing disparaging and racist memes about the Obamas. The president also amplified for years a conspiracy theory that Obama was born in Kenya and therefore ineligible to serve as president. Amid pressure to disavow the so-called "birther" claim, Mr. Trump finally said during the 2016 presidential campaign that "President Obama was born in the United States. Period." There has been no reaction from the Obamas, and for now they are not commenting, a spokeswoman said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public." The original video that Leavitt referenced was shared on X last October by the user @xerias_x, who decl...