The United States President Donald Trump, has rejected criticism over a video he briefly shared on his official Truth Social account that portrayed former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.
Addressing reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump maintained that he had not acted improperly and said there was no reason for him to apologise.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said.
“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. Then I gave it to the people.”
Pressed on whether he condemned the video’s content, the president responded, “Of course I do.”
The video, which was uploaded late Thursday, promoted a conspiracy theory about voting machines used in the 2020 U.S. election and featured a racist depiction of the Obamas.
It remained visible on Trump’s Truth Social account for about 12 hours before being taken down on Friday morning amid widespread bipartisan condemnation and calls for its removal.
Earlier on Friday, White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt defended the post in an emailed statement to reporters, describing it as “from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.”
She added, “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
The video was deleted from Trump’s account several hours after the statement was issued.
