WASHINGTON (Feb 7, 2026) – President Donald Trump has flatly rejected calls for an apology after his Truth Social account shared a video depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as primates. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One late Friday, Trump shifted the blame to a "staffer error" while simultaneously defending the content he did watch.

The incident has caused a major rift within the Republican party and prompted a rare, albeit delayed, admission of a mistake from the White House.

Chronology of a Crisis

• The Post: Shared late Thursday night, the 62-second video focused on 2020 election conspiracy theories. The final seconds showed the Obamas' faces superimposed onto the bodies of apes dancing to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."
• The Initial Defense: On Friday morning, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the backlash as "fake outrage," claiming the imagery was a harmless "Lion King" meme.
• The U-Turn: Approximately 12 hours after the post went live, and following scathing rebukes from senior Republicans, the White House deleted the video, citing a "staffer error."
• The Refusal: When asked on Friday night if he would apologize, Trump stated: "No, I didn't make a mistake... I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine... then I gave it to the people [staff]."

Bipartisan Condemnation

The post has isolated Trump from some of his most prominent allies:

• Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC): The only Black Republican in the Senate called it "the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House."
• Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS): Labeled the post "totally unacceptable" and explicitly called for an apology.
• The NAACP: President Derrick Johnson described the video as "blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable," accusing Trump of trying to distract from the recent release of Jeffrey Epstein case files.
• Rev. Bernice King: The daughter of MLK Jr. responded simply: "We are not apes."

The "King of the Jungle" Defense

The administration continues to frame the video as part of a larger "conservative meme" series that portrays Trump as a lion and his political opponents as various animals. However, critics point out that the specific trope of depicting Black people as primates has a centuries-long history of being used to dehumanize African Americans.