Trump publishes video portraying Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys

President Donald Trump shared a video on Thursday night that includes an excerpt in which former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama are portrayed as monkeys.

The excerpt, set to the tune of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” appears near the end of a 62-second video that spreads conspiracy theories about alleged irregularities in the 2020 presidential election.

This part of the video appears to have been taken from material published in October by a user of the social network X, whose name appears as a watermark, with the caption “President Trump: King of the Jungle” and a lion emoji.

In this video, several prominent Democrats — including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Councilman Zohran Mamdani, also of New York, former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris — appear as zebras, giraffes and other animals, while Trump is shown as a lion. The Obamas, in this specific excerpt, are shown as monkeys. The video ends with all the animals bowing to Trump.

Asked about the content, Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, classified the reaction to the video as “fake outrage”.

She stated: “This comes from an internet video meme that portrays President Trump as the king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.”

Portraying the Obamas as monkeys reinforces a racist stereotype historically used by slave traders and segregationists, who used this comparison to dehumanize black people and justify lynchings and other forms of violence. Trump has a history of making derogatory comments about people of color, women and immigrants.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office condemned Trump’s post, calling the episode “disgusting behavior on the part of the president.” Newsom added: “Each and every Republican needs to condemn this. Now.”

Since returning to the presidency, Trump and his team have frequently mocked Barack Obama or spread false accusations against him.