White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was called out for her bonkers defense of President Donald Trump's decision to share a video on Truth Social depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.
Overnight, Trump posted the same minute-long video twice, claiming of voting machine anomalies and featuring the PatriotNewsOutlet.com watermark. The video ends with a two-second clip depicting the Obamas as apes dancing in a jungle to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."
The clip of the Obamas features an "@XERIAS_X account watermmark; that account appears to have originally shared the video in October 2025. The 55-second clip casts Trump as a lion, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani are depicted as a warthog and a hyena, respectively.
The portrayal of Black people as apes draws from a long tradition of racist imagery advanced by slave traders, historians and proponents of so-called “scientific” racism, which was used to justify slavery, lynching and the Jim Crow system.
The video was swiftly denounced, particularly by California Governor and 2028 favorite Gavin Newsom, for promoting racist tropes.
Newsom said:
"Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now."
You can see his post below.
In a statement sent to Deadline, Leavitt offered a full-throated defense of the clip, insisting the controversy was "fake outrage":
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from 'The Lion King.' Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Leavitt was swiftly called out.
The Obamas have yet to issue a response to Trump's video.
The White House later removed the video from Truth Social.
A White House official said a White House staffer "erroneously made the post"—and left it at that.
Likely story.
@rcopelander/Bluesky
@schooley/Bluesky
@pnwcoffeeswiller/Bluesky
@tayl0roo/Bluesky
@notkerrence/Bluesky
@leftsidestrongside/Bluesky
@1republic14star/Bluesky
@dialacina.com/Bluesky
@hemantmehta/X
@Entertainment Weekly/Facebook
@Entertainment Weekly/Facebook
@Entertainment Weekly/Facebook
@Entertainment Weekly/Facebook
@Entertainment Weekly/Facebook
@shawnyboy1983/Instagram
@alliemorbitzer/Instagram
@claudia_celina_bombom/Instagram
@the_cognition_dietitian/Instagram
@ellendelcottomay/Instagram
@danielleshine.dietitian/Instagram
@meanttoeat/Instagram
@missmonroe6/Instagram
@cowgirlcreamery/Instagram
@ourbestbites/Instagram
@rogierbak/Instagram
@noahcastillero/Instagram