Obama's Calm Response After Racist 'Monkey' Video on Trump's Social Media

Washington - US President Donald Trump has faced severe criticism after his social media account posted a racist video depicting former US President Barack Obama as a monkey. Obama responded to it calmly. As reported by BBC on Sunday (15 February 2026), the racist video included clips portraying Obama and his wife, Michelle, as monkeys. The video immediately drew widespread criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. The White House initially defended the video by labelling the negative reactions as ‘fake outrage’. The post was later blamed on a staff member and has been deleted. The video, uploaded to Trump’s Truth Social account, was accompanied by the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight and contained baseless claims about the 2020 election fraud. The post sparked anger among politicians, including senior members of Trump’s Republican Party. Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican senator, described it as ‘the most racist thing I have ever seen from this White House’. The clip evoked memories of racist caricatures that compare Black people to monkeys and appears to have been taken from a post on X shared by conservative meme creator Xerias in October. Trump told journalists that he ‘did not see’ the part of the video showing the Obama family. He also refused to apologise. “I did not make a mistake,” he said to journalists when asked if he planned to apologise. Obama later gave his response during a conversation with liberal podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, who asked the first Black US president about various US issues. Cohen mentioned Trump’s post among several recent controversies. The 47-minute podcast featuring Obama was released on Saturday (14 February). The episode began with the host asking him to comment on various ‘discourses’ in the US, which he said had deteriorated to an unprecedented level of cruelty. Cohen noted the White House’s claims that victims of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were ‘domestic terrorists’ and added that a few days ago, Donald Trump posted a photo of you, your face, on the body of a monkey. “It is important to realise that the majority of Americans find this behaviour deeply disturbing. It is true that it draws attention. It is true that it diverts focus,” Obama said in response. Obama then said he had met people who still believed in decency, hospitality, and kindness while travelling around the US. He took a swipe at the circus-like shows on social media. “There is a kind of circus act happening on social media and television. And the truth is, it seems there is no shame about this among people who used to feel that you should have some sort of decency and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? That has been lost,” he said. Obama did not mention Trump’s name in his response. During the interview, Obama discussed various issues. He praised the protesters who had peacefully demonstrated against immigration operations, talked about redistricting reforms, and spoke about his presidential library, which is set to open in Chicago next year.