Trump defends sharing racist video of Obamas, says ‘I didn’t make a mistake’ despite deleting clip

By Sabiu Abdullahi

United States President Donald Trump has stated he did not err in sharing a video on his official Truth Social account that showed former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama depicted as apes.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump insisted he “didn’t make a mistake” and said he does not need to apologize.

“I didn’t make a mistake,” he emphasized.

Trump acknowledged that he had not watched the entire video before it was posted. He explained:

“I didn’t see the whole thing. I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud in the machines, how crooked it is, how disgusting it is. Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t.”

When asked whether he condemned the video’s content, Trump replied, “Of course I do.”

The video, posted late Thursday, promoted a conspiracy theory about voting machines used during the 2020 election and included a racist portrayal of the Obamas. It remained on Trump’s account for about 12 hours before being deleted Friday morning after bipartisan calls for its removal.

Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the post in a statement, describing it as “from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.”

She added, “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”

Hours after the statement, the video was removed from Trump’s Truth Social account.