President Donald Trump said he has not disciplined anyone after a racist video targeting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama was posted to his Truth Social account and later deleted.
At a Feb. 12 White House event, a reporter asked whether the staffer responsible had been “fired or disciplined.”
“No, I haven’t,” Trump replied.
The since-removed post included a lengthy video promoting unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Near the end of the clip, the Obamas’ faces were superimposed onto animated apes swinging through a jungle. The segment was set to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” a song associated with The Lion King.
Defending the broader video, Trump said, “That was a video on, as you know, voter fraud, and fairly long video, and they had a little piece and had to do with The Lion King. It’s been very well, it’s been shown all over the place. Long before that was posted.”
He added, “And that was a very strong, and I’m sure you saw it, very strong piece on voter fraud. And the piece that you’re talking about is all over the place, many times, I believe for years.”
The imagery drew swift criticism online, as comparisons of black people to primates have long been recognized as racist and dehumanizing. After backlash mounted, including from some Republicans, the post was deleted. The White House later said it had been published “erroneously” by a staffer. That individual has not been publicly identified.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially dismissed the controversy. “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” she said.
“Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
On Feb. 7, Trump told reporters he stood by the post and would not apologize. “I mean, I look at a lot of thousands of things. I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine,” he said. “I guess it was a take off on The Lion King and certainly it was a very strong post in terms of voter fraud.”
He added, “Nobody knew that that was in the end. If they would have seen it and probably they would have had the sense to take it down.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Courts, state officials from both parties and his own attorney general have rejected those claims.
The staffer who posted the video remains unnamed.
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