The power couple has rarely responded to Trump’s provocations, which date back to 2016 when Barack claimed he was not a U.S.-born American as a “birther.”
President Trump refuses to apologize for posting video showing Obama and his wife as monkeys
President Donald Trump has refused to apologize for sharing a video depicting former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
Barack and Michelle Obama are not responding to President Donald Trump’s racist social media post that painted them like jungle monkeys.
But on February 6, they posted a shared message of encouragement for American athletes competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
“To all the athletes representing @TeamUSA: I’m so proud of you,” President Obama wrote on X about the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games. “Your talent and perseverance have brought you to this moment. Michelle and I join Americans across the country in rooting for you.”
The post had been viewed by 41 million people as of Saturday morning.
The Obamas have rarely responded to Trump’s provocations dating back to when the real estate mogul first made headlines as a dark-horse political candidate with his “birther” lie suggesting Obama was not born in the United States but actually from Africa.
But given the near-universal condemnation of President Trump’s recent post, the Obamas’ congratulatory message to the players was seen as a kind of response from many supporters.
“Don’t say you don’t care, show you don’t care…Respect #ARealPresident,” the NAACP posted on X.
“Today we have to give our love to America’s first black presidents @POTUS44 @BarackObama and @FLOTUS44 @MichelleObama, who exemplified true class and excellence,” former NBA guard and television basketball analyst Eldridge Rekasner posted on X under the message #BlackHistoryMonth, which began in early February. “I think some people have a right to be jealous of these guys setting the bar so high at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
The video, one of dozens posted to President Trump’s Truth social account between the late hours of February 5 and the early morning hours of February 6, sparked a storm of criticism and conflict between accounts from the White House over how the racist metaphor was retweeted by the president’s account.
The White House initially dismissed criticism that Mr. Obama’s video was racist, claiming it was from a meme depicting Mr. Trump and the Obamas as characters from the movie “The Lion King.” However, the post was deleted about 12 hours later, and a White House official later told USA TODAY that a staffer had posted it in error.
A short segment of the Obamas’ video appears to have been created by artificial intelligence. It depicts the remains of two monkeys with the faces of a former president and first lady. Monkeys are flying around in what looks like a jungle.
Critics, including Republican lawmakers, have harshly criticized Trump’s inauguration.
Sen. Tim Scott, an ally of President Trump and a prominent black Republican from South Carolina who is leading his Senate campaign this year, wrote: “I hope this is fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen in this White House.”
But Trump refused to apologize for the post, saying he did not watch the entire video before giving it to his staff.
“I see a lot, a thousand things,” President Trump told reporters while traveling to Florida on Air Force One on February 6. “And I looked at the beginning of it and it was fine.”
Asked about calls from Republican lawmakers demanding an apology, Trump said he had no intention of doing so. Later, when asked if he condemned the racist parts of the video, he replied, “Of course I do.”
But President Trump said, “I made no mistakes.”
“When they go low, we go high.”
President Obama’s press secretary initially said the former president had not responded. The Obama Foundation later posted a video of the Obamas talking about their love for each other and their shared values.
This is part of the couple’s pattern of behavior, perhaps best exemplified by Michelle Obama’s oft-quoted convention speech during the 2016 election, when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was campaigning against Trump. “When they go low, we go high,” she said to thunderous applause.
She has since said that the word does not mean doing nothing, but “making your work worthwhile and making your voice heard in a way that is authentic to you and constructive to others.”
NAACP President Derrick Johnson called the video “absolutely despicable” and said in a statement that President Trump is trying to distract the public from bad polls, the state of the economy and the latest Justice Department release of files on the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“You know who’s not on Epstein’s file? Barack Obama,” he said. “You know who actually improved the economy as president? Barack Obama.”
“History will remember if every elected official, every business, every organization was silent now, not condemning the actions of the President of the United States,” Johnson said in the X post. “And our community will remember as well.
