Barack Obama stayed silent for over a week after President Donald Trump shared a racist video depicting him and Michelle Obama as apes. Now, he’s spoken out.
In an interview released Saturday, the former president, 64, called the imagery “deeply troubling” and said most Americans feel the same way. The video, posted to Trump’s Truth Social on Feb. 5, showed the Obamas’ faces superimposed on animated apes dancing to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Obama didn’t name Trump directly, but his message was clear. “There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television,” he told interviewer Brian Tyler Cohen. He went on to criticize the loss of “decorum and the sense of propriety and respect for the office.”
The racist imagery appeared at the end of a longer video about unsubstantiated 2020 election fraud claims. When pressed by reporters on Feb. 6, Trump, 79, refused to apologize, saying he only watched the beginning and didn’t know about the ape depiction.
“Nobody knew that that was in the end,” Trump claimed.
The White House blamed an unidentified staffer for the post, saying it was made “erroneously.” But on Feb. 12, Trump admitted he hasn’t fired or disciplined anyone over it.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the video as “an internet meme” depicting Trump as the King of the Jungle and called reactions “fake outrage.”
Obama’s response came during a broader discussion about political discourse and ICE operations in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, which he also called “deeply concerning and dangerous.”
What to watch next:
- Political reactions to Obama’s measured but pointed critique
- Whether the unnamed White House staffer faces consequences
- Public discourse about racism and presidential accountability
Sources: PEOPLE (Escher Walcott, published Feb. 15, 2026); Brian Tyler Cohen interview (YouTube, released Feb. 14, 2026)
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