The fallout had grown so loud that even President Donald Trump’s most dependable allies could no longer pretend it wasn’t happening.
What began as another late-night Truth Social post quickly spiraled into a controversy so toxic it forced uncomfortable questions inside conservative media — and ultimately followed Trump aboard Air Force One, where he dug in rather than back down.
By Friday morning, the nation woke up to a jarring video Trump had shared depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as cartoon apes — a racist trope with a long and documented history. The clip spread rapidly across social media, igniting outrage that refused to stay confined to Trump’s usual critics.
On Fox News, host Laura Ingraham pressed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on how the post ever went live.
“How did this happen, and can you really throw a staffer under the bus for this?” Ingraham asked.
Leavitt attempted to wave it away. “It was a meme. … It was from a Lion King video. Leave it to the leftist media, of course, to talk about this all day…”
Ingraham didn’t let her off the hook.
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“But, you know, it’s not just Democrats, though,” she shot back. “There are Republican senators — Pete Ricketts, others — who say, ‘Look, we understand, the president should come out and apologize for it and say, ‘Look, this was a mistake. Sorry if it offended anyone.’ Why not?”
The moment landed hard and viewers immediately picked up on the discomfort.
One wrote, “You can just see Laura’s face as she’s thinking, ‘oh my God… why am I on this side?’”
Another added, “If even Laura says WTF??? Come on now.”
By the time Trump boarded Air Force One later that evening, the pressure had followed him.
Asked about the video, Trump struggled to give a consistent answer. He insisted he had not fully watched the clip before it was posted, then appeared to contradict himself by acknowledging parts he claimed to have missed, before abruptly pivoting to attacks on former President Joe Biden.
Trump said he only viewed the opening portion, which focused on debunked claims about the 2020 election.
“I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of picture people don’t like,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it. I just looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud.”
Asked whether he would apologize, Trump flatly refused.
“No, I didn’t make a mistake. I mean … I look at a lot of, thousands of, things, and I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine.”
When asked whether the post could damage Republicans with Black voters, he launched into a familiar defense of his record — citing criminal justice reforms, funding for HBCUs, and claiming unmatched support — framing himself as misunderstood before retreating into political talking points.
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“That somebody posted, a staffer post, you know…” Trump said, repeatedly distancing himself from responsibility. “Probably nobody reviewed the end of it.”
Pressed again on what he would say to Americans offended by the imagery, Trump brushed past the question entirely.
“Well, I have no message,” he said. “I didn’t know about it.”
He then pivoted to boasting about his leadership, claiming the United States was now “the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
That answer only fueled backlash online, where viewers seized on the contradiction.
One commenter huffed, “If it’s nothing then why shift blame off of Trump and blame some imaginary staffer?”
Another called out the president’s immaturity: “If you really listen to him, he talks like a five year-old. He talks around in circles the same thing over and over again. He is so dumb.”
One critic asked, “Why do[n’t] these people stop him from lying? Just walk away or call him out. Hottest country? What the f—k does that even mean? The whole world is laughing at him. He’s out of his f—king mind.”
As reporters continued pressing him, Trump’s irritation grew. When another reporter pointed to Trump’s frequent attacks on Biden, citing his claims that Biden was often unaware of what was happening inside his administration.
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Trump growled: “I know a helluva lot better than you do. You don’t know what’s going on, I know what’s going on … Joe Biden didn’t have a clue. …”
The post was removed by midday Friday after mounting criticism. Republican Sen. Tim Scott wrote, “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it.”
Trump said he spoke with Scott by phone, reiterating that he reviewed only the beginning of the clip while blaming it on others he never identified. He then tried the minimize the impact, saying, “but that was a takeoff on the Lion King, and a lotta people were covered… but I spoke to Tim Scott, he was great, Tim is a great guy, he understood that a hundred percent.”
Many Democrats condemned the video outright, but the Obamas did not comment.
