Editor’s note: This story contains offensive imagery.
Updated Feb. 6, 2026 / 9:39 PM EST
Washington — The White House on Friday removed a campaign video shared by former President Trump on social media after it included a brief clip that placed former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama’s faces on primate bodies.
A White House official said a staffer “erroneously made the post,” and the clip was taken down after widespread bipartisan condemnation that it was “racist,” “offensive” and “unacceptable.”
Earlier Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the footage as part of an “internet meme video” portraying the president as the “King of the Jungle” and Democrats as characters from The Lion King, urging critics to “stop the fake outrage” and focus on other matters.
The version Mr. Trump shared — just over a minute long — promoted false claims that the 2020 election was rigged against him. Near the end of the clip, roughly two seconds show the Obamas’ heads superimposed on apes while “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays. Mr. Trump posted the video to his Truth Social account at 11:44 p.m. Thursday; the link now returns a “not found” message.
Aboard Air Force One on Friday night, Mr. Trump told reporters he had “just looked at the first part” of the video and did not see the portion showing the Obamas. “I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of a picture that people don’t like,” he said. “I wouldn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it.”
Barack Obama was the nation’s first Black president and Michelle Obama the first Black first lady. Mr. Trump has previously circulated racially charged memes about the Obamas and long pushed the debunked “birther” theory that questioned Barack Obama’s birthplace; under pressure in 2016 he publicly said, “President Obama was born in the United States. Period.” A spokeswoman said the Obamas had not responded to the new post.
Leavitt pointed to an original video posted on X last October by user @xerias_x titled “President Trump: King of the Jungle.” That roughly 55-second clip, which appears to be AI-generated, opens with the Obamas’ faces on ape bodies and represents multiple Democrats as animals — including Hillary Clinton depicted as a warthog, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a donkey, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer as a zebra, former President Joe Biden as a primate and Vice President Kamala Harris as a turtle. In the shorter version Mr. Trump shared, only the Obamas appeared in primate footage.
Lawmakers from both parties condemned the post. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, said he was “praying it was fake” and urged the president to remove it. Rep. Mike Lawler of New York called the post “wrong and incredibly offensive” and demanded its deletion and an apology. Senators Roger Wicker and Pete Ricketts said the footage was unacceptable; Sen. John Curtis described it as “blatantly racist and inexcusable.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries denounced the president’s “disgusting bigotry” and criticized GOP leaders who had not publicly condemned the post. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office called it “disgusting behavior” and urged every Republican to denounce it.
The clip also recycled baseless claims about Dominion Voting Systems. Mr. Trump has repeatedly asserted, without evidence, that the 2020 election was stolen; dozens of lawsuits seeking to overturn results were dismissed by courts. Former Attorney General Bill Barr said the Justice Department did not find evidence of widespread fraud that would have changed the outcome.
Dominion has sued media organizations and individuals over similar false claims. Fox News reached a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion in 2023; Newsmax paid $67 million in a separate settlement. Rudy Giuliani also reached a confidential settlement with Dominion. Former special counsel Jack Smith told House investigators he had seen Giuliani disavow some of the public claims he made about the election. Smith led a prosecution against Mr. Trump related to alleged efforts to subvert the transfer of power after the 2020 election; that case was dismissed after Mr. Trump won a second term in November 2024.
Ed O’Keefe contributed to this report.