Trump posts Obamas as monkeys
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump sparked fresh controversy after sharing an election conspiracy video on his Truth Social platform that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys. The post immediately triggered outrage across political circles, with prominent Democrats and civil rights advocates condemning the imagery as racist and deeply offensive.
The one-minute video, which was reposted by Trump without comment, briefly shows the faces of Barack and Michelle Obama superimposed onto monkeys for roughly one second. While the clip was short, critics argued that the imagery carried a long and painful history of racial stereotyping that should have no place in modern political discourse.
Beyond the offensive visuals, the video also repeated false and widely debunked claims that Dominion Voting Systems helped steal the 2020 presidential election from Trump. These allegations have been dismissed by courts, election officials, and independent investigators, and Dominion has previously taken legal action against individuals and organizations that promoted such claims.
By early Friday morning, the video had attracted more than 1,000 likes on Truth Social, Trump’s preferred social media platform since being banned from major networks following the January 6 Capitol riot. The engagement numbers fueled further criticism, with opponents warning that misinformation and racially charged content continue to spread rapidly online.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office was among the first to publicly condemn the post. Newsom, a frequent critic of Trump and a potential Democratic presidential contender in 2028, did not mince words.
“Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now,” Newsom’s press office wrote in a sharply worded post on X.
Ben Rhodes, a former national security adviser under President Obama and a close ally of the former first family, also weighed in. He described the imagery as a reflection of Trump’s character rather than the Obamas’.
“Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a stain on our history,” Rhodes said.
Since beginning his second term in the White House, Trump has significantly increased his use of hyper-realistic but entirely fabricated visuals on Truth Social and other platforms. Many of these posts portray Trump in heroic or exaggerated scenarios, while others mock or demean his political opponents.
Last year, Trump shared an AI-generated video showing Barack Obama being arrested inside the Oval Office and later appearing behind bars in an orange prison jumpsuit. The clip drew widespread backlash for promoting false narratives and undermining trust in democratic institutions.
In another incident, Trump posted an AI-generated clip of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is Black, depicting him with a fake mustache and wearing a sombrero. Critics argued the video relied on racial and cultural stereotypes, further inflaming concerns over Trump’s use of artificial intelligence in political messaging.
As the 2024 political climate remains deeply polarized, Trump’s latest post has reignited debates over racism, misinformation, and the ethical limits of AI-generated content in modern American politics.
Trump posts Obamas as monkeys
