Trump removes racist video on Obama after criticism

President Donald Trump removed from his Truth Social account a racist video posted on Thursday night, where former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama were depicted as monkeys.

The White House had initially defended the video, but this provoked immediate protests from Republican lawmakers who called it 'unacceptable' and 'racist' and asked Trump to remove it.

In the first instance, the White House had responded to the controversy triggered by the publication of the video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys by downplaying the issue. "This is an internet video meme depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as Lion King characters," he had said in a statement shared with Newsweek. "Please stop this faux outrage and talk about something that actually matters to the American public," the White House memo added.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Democratic minority in the US House, Hakeem Jeffries, among others, strongly condemned the publication, attacking Trump. "President Obama and Michelle," he wrote on X, "are brilliant, compassionate, patriotic Americans. They represent the best of this country. Donald Trump is a despicable, deranged and evil individual. Why do Republican leaders like John Thune continue to support this sick person? Every single Republican must immediately denounce Donald Trump's disgusting bigotry."

But it was not only the Democrats who lashed out at Donald Trump. Criticism also came from the ranks of the Republicans: South Carolina's African-American Senator Tim Scott, one of Trump's main allies in the Senate, did not mince words: 'I hope it's a fake, because it's the most racist thing I've ever seen come out of the White House. The President should remove it,' he had written on X about the video, which was later removed under pressure of criticism.