In a rare moment of dissent from within his own party, President Donald Trump faced criticism from Republican lawmakers over a controversial video he shared on social media. The video, which included a racist portrayal of former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as primates, sparked outrage and drew bipartisan condemnation.
Historically, Republican legislators have approached disagreements with Trump cautiously, often opting for private discussions to avoid his potential backlash. However, the reaction to this video was notably different, as it also contained false conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 election, prompting a unified call from both sides of the aisle to take it down.
Numerous GOP senators and representatives joined Democrats in expressing their disapproval and demanded that the offensive content be removed. This collective response marked a significant departure from the usual reticence seen among Republican lawmakers when dealing with Trump’s more controversial actions.
Despite the pressure, Trump refused to issue an apology, defending himself by stating that he had not noticed the racist imagery when he initially shared the video with his staff.
As Republican lawmakers voiced their concerns, the incident highlighted the ongoing tension within the party regarding how to address the president’s conduct. Such public rebukes from GOP members remain uncommon, underscoring the gravity of the situation.
How Republican lawmakers reacted
South Carolina’s Tim Scott, the only Black Republican senator and chair of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, criticized the image and urged the president to remove it.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it,” Scott wrote on social media.
Other Republican senators echoed the sentiment.
“Even if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this,” Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, wrote on social media. “The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize.”
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine called the image “appalling.” Roger Wicker, the senior senator from Mississippi, denounced it as “totally unacceptable.”
“The president should take it down and apologize,” Wicker wrote.
Sen. John Curtis of Utah called Trump’s post “blatantly racist and inexcusable. It should never have been posted or left published for so long.”
In the House, Rep. Mike Lawler of New York called Trump’s post “wrong and incredibly offensive—whether intentional or a mistake—and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a frequent Trump critic, quipped on social media about the White House’s shifting explanations for the video’s origin and deletion.
Praise for the post being removed
More Republicans lodged their objections to the post after the video was taken down.
“This content was rightfully removed, should have never been posted to begin with, and is not who we are as a nation,” wrote Sen. Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican.
Rep. John James, a Michigan Republican running for governor, said he was “glad to see that trash has been taken down.” James, one of four Black Republicans in the House, said he was “shocked and appalled by that post” but defended Trump’s character.
“I know the President. He is not racist,” said James, who campaigned for Trump in Black communities during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Still, some of Trump’s closest allies defended him. Laura Loomer, a far right activist and media personality, called on her social media followers to highlight any Republican lawmakers “attacking Trump today with false accusations of racism.”
“I am compiling a list of every single GOP Senator who attacked President Trump today, and I am printing it out and giving it to President Trump ahead of the @NRSC Winter Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida this weekend,” wrote Loomer, who has influenced administration policy and threatened retribution against GOP lawmakers in the past.
A shifting White House narrative
Trump has been a longtime critic of the Obamas. Before entering politics, he earned fame among conservatives as a champion of the “birther” conspiracy theory that falsely claimed that President Obama was not born in the U.S.
White House officials made multiple shifting statements about how the animated video, which has circulated among conservatives online for months, came to be posted by the president’s account.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at first said the post, which appears to be AI-generated, depicted Trump as “King of the Jungle” and the Obamas and other Democrats as characters from “The Lion King.” But the Disney animated classic does not include any characters depicted as apes, and is set in an African savanna not a jungle.
White House officials later said that the video was erroneously posted by a staffer.
“I liked the beginning. I saw it and just passed it on, and I guess probably nobody reviewed the end of it,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. Asked if he condemned the racist parts of the video, Trump said, “Of course I do.”
Democrats rally to former first couple
Supporters of the Obamas also took to social media not only to condemn the president’s post, but also to celebrate the former first couple.
“We should ALL be outraged,” Pete Souza, the former chief White House photographer during the Obama White House, posted to social media. “I will not post a screenshot of the video here. Instead, I thought it best to respond with a few of my photographs of Barack and Michelle.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., posted images of the Obamas and praised their “brilliance, elegance, and beauty.”
“I want Americans, particularly our young people, to know that the vast majority of our country supports and uplifts you despite the filth spewing from the Oval Office,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote to the Obamas on social media.
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