Barack Obama breaks silence over Trump’s ‘racist’ video of him and Michelle
Former US President Barack Obama has responded to the deeply offensive AI video Donald Trump posted earlier this month.
Trump posted a video on Truth Social showing Barack and Michelle Obama’s faces on ape bodies – sparking outrage from both sides of the political spectrum.
The minute-long video about rigged voting machines, which has since been deleted, showed a two-second shot of the former President and First Lady as apes.
They were dancing in a jungle with The Lion Sleeps Tonight playing in the background.
Now, during an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama said: ‘First of all, I think it’s important to recognise that the majority of the American people find this behaviour deeply troubling.
‘It is true that it gets attention. It’s indeed a distraction…
‘You meet people… they still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness, and there’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television.’
Despite the outrage from both sides of the political spectrum, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: ‘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.’
Later, a White House official said a member of staff ‘erroneously made the post’, but Trump has still refused to apologise.
Shirking all responsibility, he said: ‘I looked at it. I didn’t see the whole thing. I gave it to the people, and they posted it.
‘What I saw in the beginning was really strong. It was about fraudulent elections. Anytime I see that stuff and it’s credible, you put it up.
‘I didn’t do it. This was done by someone else. It was a re-truth, but that was a very strong truth.’
When a journalist criticised Trump for ‘not knowing what was going on in his name, he lashed out.
He said: ‘I know a hell of a lot better than you do. You don’t know what’s going on. I know what’s going on.’
Senator Tim Scott, who is the only black Republican to have a seat in the Senate, described it as ‘the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House’.
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