United States President Donald Trump has broken his silence after sharing a controversial video about the Obamas on Friday.
Addressing a growing firestorm, Trump admitted that while he approved the sharing of the video about the Obamas, he didn’t watch the full video.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the video, which sparked intense condemnation for its use of racist imagery, was removed from his Truth Social platform approximately 12 hours after it was first posted.
The 62-second video primarily focused on the President’s ongoing claims regarding the 2020 election. However, the final seconds of the clip featured a highly offensive, AI-generated depiction of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Aboard Air Force One, the President clarified his involvement, admitting he approved the post but insisted he didn’t watch the full video about the Obamas to the end.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” he 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. Generally, they look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t,” he said.
When asked directly whether he condemned the video’s content, Trump replied, “Of course I do.”
The video, which was posted late Thursday, pushed a conspiracy theory about voting machines used during the 2020 election and included a racist depiction of the Obamas.
The White House initially defended the post in an emailed statement to reporters on Friday morning by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
She said, “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.”
Leavitt added, “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Hours after the statement was issued, the video was removed from Trump’s official Truth Social account.
