United States President Donald Trump has faced widespread backlash after sharing an AI-generated video that portrays former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as monkeys.
The video was shared on Truth Social on Friday.
In the AI-generated clip, the smiling faces of the former US first couple were imposed on the bodies of monkeys.
Michelle Obama’s face appeared on the body of a black monkey, while Barack Obama’s face was placed on the body of a brown monkey.
The Obamas briefly and suddenly appear near the end of the short video, which promotes false claims that voting machines helped steal the 2020 election, with their faces superimposed onto the bodies of apes. As the images appear, for about one second, the start of the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays in the background.
The post quickly drew reactions across social media platforms.
In a statement to CNN on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the broader response to the video “fake outrage.”
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” Leavitt said. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
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Reacting to the video, California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote on X, “Disgusting behaviour by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
Political commentator Harry Sisson also criticised the post, describing it as racist and unbecoming of the presidency.
“Trump posted a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys. Incredibly racist and disgusting. Beneath the office of the presidency, like everything he does. Every American must condemn this,” he wrote.
Trump has previously shared AI-generated content targeting the former president. In an earlier post, he circulated an AI-generated video depicting Obama being arrested in the Oval Office and sent to jail.
