US President Donald Trump has ignited outrage once again with a video post on his Truth Social account, where former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are depicted as apes. The clip was part of a late-night flurry of messages posted by Trump, who claims he only watched the start of the short video before it was removed.
The reposted video sparked an outpouring of bipartisan condemnation from lawmakers, with many Republicans and Democrats alike slamming the post as "blatantly racist." Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican serving in the Senate, called for Trump to remove the post, saying it was the most racist thing he's seen coming out of the White House.
Trump has repeatedly demonstrated an adversarial relationship with the Obamas, who became the first Black couple in US history to serve as president and first lady. One of his earliest forays into national politics came during Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, when he pushed false claims that the Democratic leader had not been born in the US.
Trump has long leveraged social media to spread messages that promote his public image and political platform, often relying on artificial intelligence-generated memes. However, this latest video post marks a particularly disturbing low point for some of Trump's supporters.
Critics argue that Trump is intentionally stoking outrage to distract from pressing domestic issues, including recent allegations surrounding disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, whose name has been linked to Trump in the released files.
The reposted video sparked an outpouring of bipartisan condemnation from lawmakers, with many Republicans and Democrats alike slamming the post as "blatantly racist." Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican serving in the Senate, called for Trump to remove the post, saying it was the most racist thing he's seen coming out of the White House.
Trump has repeatedly demonstrated an adversarial relationship with the Obamas, who became the first Black couple in US history to serve as president and first lady. One of his earliest forays into national politics came during Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, when he pushed false claims that the Democratic leader had not been born in the US.
Trump has long leveraged social media to spread messages that promote his public image and political platform, often relying on artificial intelligence-generated memes. However, this latest video post marks a particularly disturbing low point for some of Trump's supporters.
Critics argue that Trump is intentionally stoking outrage to distract from pressing domestic issues, including recent allegations surrounding disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, whose name has been linked to Trump in the released files.