WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama has finally addressed a controversial meme video shared on President Trump’s Truth Social, which portrayed him and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes before it was removed.
Expressing his disdain with a sardonic laugh, the 44th president sharply criticized his successor’s “deeply troubling” actions, accusing Trump of diminishing the dignity associated with the presidency.
In a conversation with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen released on Saturday, Obama remarked, “I understand that most Americans find this behavior deeply unsettling.” He continued, “While it certainly garners attention and serves as a distraction, when I travel across the nation and interact with people, they still uphold values like decency, courtesy, and kindness, contrasting with the circus-like antics seen on social media and TV.”
On February 5, Trump shared a video on Truth Social, rehashing contentious claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent. The video concluded with an offensive clip depicting the Obamas as apes.
It seems that the video concerning the 2020 election was recorded from a screen, and the offensive imagery appeared as the next queued video, rather than being part of the original post.
It appeared that the 2020 election video had been a screen recording and that the ape portion came up as the next video in the queue and was not part of the initial clip.
The segment portraying the Obamas as apes came from a broader meme video showing Trump as the King of the Jungle and depicting prominent pols as characters from “The Lion King.” Only a snippet of that meme video was shown in Trump’s post.
White House officials have claimed that a staffer “erroneously” posted that video to his Truth Social account. Trump later told reporters he “didn’t see” the ape portion at the end of the video and that “of course” he condemns the racist parts of that clip.
Trump has not apologized to Obama for the video, which triggered a wave of backlash from Republicans in Congress.
“Well, I have no message. I didn’t know about it, so I mean, it went up. I really have no message,” Trump told a reporter when asked about his message to those who were offended by the post.
The 44th president didn’t dwell on the ape video in his discussion with Tyler Cohen and argued that Democrats’ playbook against the immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota should be a model for their resistance to Trump.
“What is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office,” Obama added.
Obama had been quiet about the video during the firestorm. Generally speaking, he has been selective in when he weighs in on the controversies under Trump’s second term.
For example, he has spoken out about the crackdown in Minnesota that is now winding down and the Trump administration’s recent repeal of the EPA’s finding that climate change is an “endangerment,” which has been used to justify scores of regulatory policies against greenhouse gas emissions.
