Obama Responds to Racist Video Depicting Him as a Monkey on Trump's Social Media
Washington DC - Former US President Barack Obama has indirectly responded to a racist video posted on President Donald Trump’s social media account. Obama said that shame and decency among officials have disappeared.
As reported by BBC on Sunday (15/2/2026), the offensive video included clips depicting Obama and his wife Michelle as apes. The video immediately drew widespread criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
The White House initially defended the video, dismissing the negative reaction as “fake outrage.” The post was later blamed on a staff member and deleted.
The clip, set to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight, was included at the end of a video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account containing unsubstantiated claims about fraud in the 2020 election.
The post sparked outrage from politicians, including senior members of Trump’s own Republican Party. Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican senator, described it as “the most racist thing I’ve ever seen from this White House.”
The clip was reminiscent of racist caricatures comparing Black people to monkeys and appeared to have been taken from an X post shared by conservative meme creator Xerias in October.
Trump told reporters he “didn’t see” the portion of the video showing the Obama family. “I didn’t make a mistake,” he told reporters when asked whether he planned to apologize.
Obama later delivered his response while speaking with liberal podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, who asked the first Black US president about the tone of political discourse. Cohen mentioned Trump’s post among several recent controversies.
The 47-minute podcast featuring Obama was released on Saturday (14/2). The episode began with the host asking him to comment on US “discourse,” which he said had descended to “a level of cruelty that we haven’t seen before.”
Cohen noted the White House’s claims that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “victims” were “domestic terrorists” and added that a few days ago, Donald Trump posted a photo of “your face on the body of an ape.”
“It’s important to recognize that the majority of Americans find this behavior deeply disturbing. It’s true that it grabs attention. It’s true that it distracts,” Obama said in response.
However, Obama said he meets people who still believe in decency, kindness, and goodness as he travels around the US. He took a jab at the “clown show” on social media.
“There’s a kind of clown show that’s happening on social media and television. And the truth is there appears to be no shame about this among people who used to feel that you had to have some sort of decency and sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? That’s gone,” he said.
He did not mention Trump by name in his response.
During the interview, Obama spoke on a range of issues. He praised protesters who have peacefully demonstrated against immigration operations, discussed redistricting, and talked about his presidential library, which will open in Chicago next year.