Donald Trump Shares Racist Video of Barack and Michelle Obama as Apes

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Donald Trump Shares Racist Video of Barack and Michelle Obama as Apes in Late-Night Post

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The shocking footage was included in video reposted by Trump about unsubstantiated voter fraud during the 2020 election

Donald Trump; Michelle and Barack Obama. Credit :

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Mark Wilson/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

• Donald Trump shared a shocking video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes on Thursday, Feb. 5
• The footage shows the Obamas' faces superimposed on the bodies of two animated apes dancing to the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
• "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to PEOPLE. "Please stop the fake outrage"
  

Donald Trump shared a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes on Thursday, Feb. 5.

The footage was included towards the end of a video Trump, 79, shared on Truth Social that featured unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud during the 2020 election. 

The clip shows Barack and Michelle Obama's faces superimposed on the bodies of two animated apes dancing to the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." 

Trump's account reposted the clip without a caption.

President Donald Trump at the Kennedy Center premiere of 'Melania' on Jan. 29, 2026.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

When approached for comment about the video by PEOPLE, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that, "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King."

"Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public," she added.

The original meme referred to by Leavitt shows Trump's head superimposed on the body of a lion, while the faces of politicians, including Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, are also shown.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was among those to comment on Trump's post, with his press office writing on X, "Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now."

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at a 2014 Christmas event.

Theo Wargo/WireImage

Trump's video comes after he reposted a fake, AI-generated clip in July which showed President Obama being arrested by federal authorities and put behind bars, set to the tune of "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People.

The clip began with several Democrats — including Obama, Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Cory Booker — proclaiming that "no one is above the law." That portion of the footage was soundtracked by the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song, before an image of the character Pepe the Frog, which over the years has been used as an alt-right symbol, appeared on screen.

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The footage then cut to a doctored clip from Trump's November 2016 visit to the White House with then-President Obama, which depicted FBI agents grabbing Obama out of a chair, placing handcuffs on him and removing him from the Oval Office while Trump smiled and "Y.M.C.A." played in the background.

Obama was then shown sitting in a jail cell, standing behind bars and wearing an orange jumpsuit in the AI footage.

In September, Trump also garnered criticism after posting a racist AI-generated video to his Truth Social account that depicted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a fake sombrero and mustache.

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