Overview
- The Truth Social post, online for about 12 hours, featured an apparently AI-edited clip superimposing the Obamas’ faces on apes to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” within a video pushing debunked 2020 fraud claims.
- After first defending the upload as an “internet meme,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt reversed course as officials said a staffer had “erroneously” posted it and removed the clip.
- Trump told reporters he viewed only the opening of the video, said he condemned the offensive snippet, and rejected calls to apologize, saying, “I didn’t make a mistake.”
- Republicans including Sen. Tim Scott, Sen. Roger Wicker, Sen. Pete Ricketts, Sen. Susan Collins, and Rep. Mike Lawler publicly rebuked the post, joining Democrats and civil-rights groups.
- The person who posted the video has not been identified, with reporting pointing to a small circle managing Trump’s account and to internal frustration over lax posting protocols.