Bipartisan outrage erupted Friday over a racist video shared by President Trump Thursday night, prompting Trump to take it down.
The video, which Trump shared on the conservative social media platform Truth Social, depicted president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle.
Republicans as well as Democrats quickly denounced Trump for sharing the video.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it,” Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is typically one of Trump’s allies, wrote on X.
The White House deleted the post on Friday and blamed it on a staffer. The video spreads Trump’s oft-repeated lies that the 2020 election was stolen, in addition to imposing the Obamas’ faces on apes’ bodies.
Scott, the Senate’s only Black Republican member, serves as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a key role for guiding the party’s push to maintain its Senate majority in the upcoming midterms.
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who is expected to face a tough reelection bid, shared Scott’s post on X, saying, “Tim is right. This was appalling.”
After the White House removed the post, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, demanded the Trump administration to issue a formal apology, saying “taking it down is not enough.
“The overnight post from the President of the United States is nothing but vile, racist filth. He should be ashamed of himself, if he were capable of shame,” Pelosi wrote on X. “The White House must apologize for this beyond disgusting behavior.”
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, echoing many Trump critics on social media, said he didn’t believe the White House’s explanation that the video’s posting was a mistake by an aide.
“There is no ‘staffer’ freelance posting from the President’s account at midnight,” he wrote on X.
Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York, also condemned Trump’s post and urged the president to apologize.
“The President’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered,” Lawler wrote on X, before the White House removed the post.
On Friday, the White House dismissed the video, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt, saying, “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top-ranking Black Democrat, denounced Trump’s post, describing the Obamas as “brilliant, compassionate and patriotic Americans” who “represent the best of this country.”
“Donald Trump is a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder. Why are GOP leaders like John Thune continuing to stand by this sick individual?” Jeffries wrote on X. “Every single Republican must immediately denounce Donald Trump’s disgusting bigotry.”
Trump’s post is the latest example of the president facing sharp backlash for posting racist content on his social media platform.
In September 2025, Trump posted a racist video on social media, which appeared to be an AI-generated, depicting Jeffries wearing a sombrero and a mustache.
House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, wrote on X, “It’s an absolute embarrassment that the President continues to use a bully pulpit out of his own insecurity. Every single Republican should be denouncing this bigotry.”
Representative Richard Neal of Massachusetts called Trump’s post “vile and racist,” in a post on X, adding that “There’s no ambiguity here. The American people deserve better.”
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Original article HERE.