Trump removes controversial Truth Social post, depicting Obamas as apes
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KRDO) - The White House is taking heat after the deletion of a controversial video posted by President Trump.
The video depicts former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, and though it has since been deleted, leaders are expressing outrage.
KRDO13 was able to locate the original post using the Wayback Machine, a service that captures online data.
In the video shared by President Trump on Truth Social, you can see an unrelated video being played before another video is shown, depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama with their heads on the body of an ape.
On Friday, President Trump took down the post after receiving backlash.
Our ABC News affiliates asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt for comment, who says, "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."
Mayor Yemi Mobolade took to social media, saying, "This is not politics. This is disgusting and shameful. What the president did was simply wrong, especially during a month set aside to honor human dignity and god’s children: black history month."
Republicans also expressed their disdain for the post.
"This is, you know, extremely offensive, extremely, inappropriate, imagery has absolutely no place in our country. Goes, 100% contrary to values, that all of us here share," says Republican California Representative Kevin Kiley.
House democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X, "President Obama and Michelle Obama are brilliant, compassionate, and patriotic Americans. They represent the best of this country. Donald Trump is a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder."
Now the White House claims the post was a staff error.
When our news affiliates at ABC reached out to the Obamas, their representatives said they had no comment.
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