Donald Trump: I’ll probably go to heaven
President Donald Trump spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast and said, “I’m probably going to go to heaven.”
President Donald Trump shared a clip of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama appearing as monkeys in a late-night Truth Social post on February 5th.
The approximately one-minute video features footage discussing baseless allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, before briefly cutting to clips of the Obamas.
The image of the Obamas, which appears to have been generated by artificial intelligence, shows the remains of two monkeys whose faces have been replaced with those of the former president and first lady. They seem to be in the jungle, with monkeys flying in the background. The White House dismissed criticism that the video was racist, saying it was taken from a meme depicting President Trump and the Obamas as characters from The Lion King.
Trump did not appear in the video posted. The original meme referenced by the White House shows President Trump’s head superimposed on the body of a lion. The original video also shows the faces of other politicians superimposed on the animals, including former President Joe Biden, California Governor Gavin Newsom, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The president’s post was shared just before midnight on February 5th, but there was no accompanying document.
Many on social media were quick to condemn the depiction as racist. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said in a statement that the image came from a social media meme.
“This is from an internet meme video that portrays President Trump as the king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. Stop the false outrage and start reporting on what actually matters to the American people today,” Levitt said.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Obamas for comment.
Melina Khan is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Contact her at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
