White House removes video showing Obama as 'monkey', condemns Trump

White House removes video showing Obama as 'monkey', condemns Trump

The White House has removed a video shared by US President Donald Trump on his social media account after intense criticism. The video allegedly portrayed former Democratic President Barack Obama as a 'monkey'. The video sparked widespread controversy after it was released, with some Republicans criticizing it for undermining the human dignity of people of African descent. Reuters reported that the White House initially defended the post, but it was deleted early Friday, about 12 hours after it was posted. Later, in response to questions from reporters, Trump said he condemned the post. A White House official said a staffer had mistakenly posted the video and it was later removed. A Trump adviser told Reuters that the president had not seen the video before posting it on Thursday night; he ordered it removed after learning about it. Both officials declined to be named. The White House staffer's identity was not immediately available. Trump's advisers said only a few senior aides have direct access to his social media accounts. Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Carolyn Leavitt initially defended the post, calling the negative reactions "fake outrage." The nearly minute-long video, shared on Trump's Truth social network, claims that his 2020 election loss was due to fraud. The video ends with a dancing monkey with Obama's face superimposed on it, which is believed to have been created using artificial intelligence. A spokesman for the Obama family declined to comment. The report also noted that Trump has been accused of sharing racist remarks in the past. He has long promoted a conspiracy theory that Barack Obama, who was president from 2009 to 2017, was not born in the United States. In a speech on Thursday, Trump also called Obama "very bad" and "divided the country."