Trump says he “didn’t see” image depicting Obamas as apes in social media post

President Trump spoke Friday evening to a video posted on his social media account which included a racist depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, telling reporters that he watched the beginning of the now-deleted video but did not see the part that showed the former president and first lady.

“I just watched the first part,” the president said on Air Force One, noting that most of the video concerned allegations of election fraud. “I didn’t see everything. I guess in the end there was some sort of [inaudible] that people don’t like. I wouldn’t like it either, but I haven’t seen it.”

He suggested he gave the video to a staffer, saying “someone slipped” and posted it to his Truth Social account shortly before midnight Thursday without spotting the Obamas’ performance in the final seconds.

“Usually they looked at everything, but I guess someone didn’t and they published it,” Mr. Trump said. “We took it down as soon as we found out.”

The White House initially defended the post on social media on Friday. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called criticism of the video a “fake outrage” and said the image of the Obamas’ faces mounted on ape bodies was part of a meme depicting Democrats as characters from The Lion King.

But a litany of Republican lawmakers quickly condemned the message and urged Mr Trump to remove it, with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina calling it “the most racist thing I have seen in the White House”. Several Republicans also pushed the White House to issue an apology.

Mr. Trump told reporters he spoke with Scott, the Senate’s only black Republican, earlier confirming CBS News report. The post was deleted from Truth Social shortly after their conversation.

Asked if he intended to apologize for the message, Mr. Trump replied: “No, I didn’t make a mistake.” But he said he “of course” condemned the racist part of the video.