President Trump congratulates Savannah Guthrie on her missing Tucson mother, Nancy, and teases her “softer” approach to immigration. Then a video appeared depicting the Obamas as monkeys.
Donald Trump shares TruthSocial video that makes President Obama look like a monkey
President Donald Trump shared a video on Truth Social depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
President Donald Trump’s softening trend hit a major stalemate Friday when his Truth social account posted a video meme depicting his first Oval Office predecessors, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, as monkeys.
The video, which lasted about a minute, quickly cut to footage of the Obamas after Trump reiterated baseless allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
President Trump told NBC news anchor Tom Llamas on Wednesday, February 4, that the White House may offer a “softer response” to immigration issues following the shooting deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Preti during last month’s anti-ICE protests.
Rama then revealed that President Trump called the family of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of the network’s morning show star Savannah Guthrie, who was reported missing and abducted, to wish them well.
President Obama’s video was released after President Trump changed his tune this week after proposing a lighter approach to major issues facing the country. The post was also posted before November’s midterm elections, which will be a big test for the president. Republicans lost 40 House seats in 2018, and the national campaign will be seen as a referendum on his presidential status.
Throughout his second term, and at an event with rap star Nicki Minaj just last week, the Trump administration has touted the electoral gains it made with black voters in its 2024 victory over then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Caroline Leavitt: “Reporting on what actually matters”
Some members of Trump’s own party condemned the post, from Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, to Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents a must-win floating seat in New York City’s northern suburbs.
Images depicting black people as apes, monkeys, and other primates have long been considered racist in the United States. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt initially dismissed criticism of the video, which Scott called “racist” on Friday.
“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,” Levitt said in a statement to USA TODAY on Friday. “Stop the false outrage and report today on the things that actually matter to the American people.”
Meanwhile, the Obamas have adopted a different style of dealing with President Trump during his second term.
Barack Obama used his signature social media statements to strategize against Trump in a rare and carefully planned public response. While he responded to Mr. Preti’s death in Minneapolis and the unrest in the Middle East, he stayed out of California’s mid-decade redistricting initiative that was likely to counter Republican efforts in Texas and limit potential Democratic losses.
Michelle Obama is avoiding Trump and focusing on brand building and reinvention. After missing Trump’s second inauguration, Obama became more outspoken publicly about her marriage, her time in the White House, motherhood and finding herself in her 60s.
Last year, she launched the podcast IMO with her brother Craig Robinson and wrote a book about her style, The Look, which was released the day before the one-year anniversary of Trump’s victory over Harris.
By noon ET on February 6, the video of the couple, depicted as monkeys, had disappeared. The White House said the post was posted in error by a staffer.
(This article has been updated with new information.)
Contributions: Melina Cahn, Joey Garrison, Zach Anderson
