Overview
- Speaking in a newly released interview, Barack Obama called the episode "deeply troubling" and described today’s political discourse as a social‑media "clown show."
- Trump has not apologized for the Truth Social post and says he only viewed the beginning of the video, while the White House attributes the upload to an unnamed staffer who has not been disciplined.
- The post, taken down hours after it went up, paired debunked 2020 election-fraud claims with a brief clip portraying Barack and Michelle Obama as apes drawn from a longer meme.
- Republican criticism included public rebukes from Sen. Tim Scott and Sen. Katie Britt, reflecting rare cross-party condemnation of the racist imagery.
- CNN-reported accounts say Trump privately fumed at GOP senators who objected to the post, intensifying questions about internal controls over the president’s social media.