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US President Donald Trump has removed a social media video that included a racist clip depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
The clip appeared at the end of a 62-second video posted to Trump’s Truth Social account.
The video promoted claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election and was set to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said he did not create the post and had only seen the beginning of the video before it was shared by a staff member.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said. He added that he was unaware that the video included the depiction of the Obamas.
The White House at first played down the row, saying the images were “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,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to AFP.
Hours later, following criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, the video was removed.
A White House official said the post was made in error by a staff member.
“A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,” a White House official told AFP.
Former vice president Kamala Harris said on X that she did not believe the White House explanation.
“No one believes this cover-up from the White House, especially since they originally defended this post,” Harris wrote.
“We are all clear-eyed about who Donald Trump is and what he believes.”
Meanwhile, Tim Scott, the only Black Republican senator and a contender for the 2024 presidential nomination, called the video “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”
Scott exclaimed that he was “praying it was fake” and demanded that Trump take it down.
Roger Wicker, another Republican senator, said the post was “totally unacceptable. The president should take it down and apologise.”
There was no immediate public response from the Obamas.
