Post by : Bianca
Haleem
US President Donald Trump has condemned a racist clip that appeared in a video posted on his Truth Social account, but he refused to apologise for it.
The video was shared late Thursday and mainly focused on repeating false claims that Trump’s 2020 election loss happened due to fraud. However, near the end of the video, there was a short clip that appeared to be AI-generated. It showed dancing primates with the faces of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
The White House first defended the post on Friday, calling it an “internet meme.” But after heavy criticism, the post was deleted around 12 hours later. A White House official later said the video was posted by mistake.
On Friday night, Trump told reporters he did not watch the full video before it was posted.
“I didn’t see the whole thing,” Trump said. He explained that he only saw the first part, which he said was about election fraud, before handing it to staff to post.
When asked if he condemned the racist part, Trump replied, “Of course I do.” However, he refused to apologise, saying he did not make a mistake and that he reviews “thousands of things.”
The incident led to criticism from Democrats and also some Republicans. Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, a close Trump ally, reacted strongly and called it “the most racist thing” he had seen from the White House. He urged the president to remove it.
Some other Republican lawmakers also called on Trump to apologise and delete the post. According to a person familiar with the matter, some lawmakers privately contacted the White House about the issue.
A spokesperson for Barack and Michelle Obama declined to comment.
Only a few senior White House aides reportedly have access to Trump’s Truth Social account. Trump and White House officials did not reveal who posted the video.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt initially defended the post and dismissed criticism as “fake outrage.” She said the video was meant as a meme that showed Trump as the “King of the Jungle” and Democrats as characters from Disney’s Lion King.
But later, a White House official said the post had been removed, stating that a staffer had “erroneously made the post.”
Trump later admitted the video had images at the end that “people don’t like,” and added that he also would not like it.
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