- Trump Obama video controversy sparks fresh outrage online
- Donald Trump insists he made no mistake sharing the clip
- Truth Social post stayed up for nearly 12 hours before deletion
- White House defends Trump before quietly removing the video
United States President Donald Trump has doubled down on the controversy surrounding a racist video about Barack Obama that was briefly shared on his official Truth Social account, insisting he made “no mistake” and sees no reason to apologise.
Speaking late Friday to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump dismissed criticism over the video, which portrayed former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama in a deeply offensive manner.
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“I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said when asked about the post.
The former president explained that he did not watch the entire clip before it was uploaded to his account.
“I didn’t see the whole thing. I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud in the machines, how crooked it is, how disgusting it is,” Trump said.
According to him, responsibility for reviewing the full content usually falls on his team.
“Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t,” he added.
When pressed on whether he condemned the racist imagery contained in the video, Trump responded, “Of course I do.”
The video, posted late Thursday, promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 U.S. election and included a racially offensive depiction of the Obamas. It remained visible on Trump’s Truth Social page for nearly 12 hours before being deleted Friday morning following strong bipartisan backlash.
Earlier on Friday, the White House appeared to defend the post. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the clip as an internet meme.
“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 in an emailed statement.
Leavitt added, “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Hours after the statement, the video was quietly removed from Trump’s account, further fuelling criticism over how the issue was handled.
