A number of Black conservatives with ties to President Donald Trump’s administration issued uncommon public rebukes after a video shared on the president’s social media platform late Thursday evening included a racist animation depicting former President Barack Obama and former first girl Michelle Obama with the our bodies of apes.
The video was later deleted, and the White Home stated it had been posted in error by a staffer.
NAACP Nationwide President Derrick Johnson stated in an announcement Friday that the video was “blatantly racist, disgusting, and totally despicable.”
However the episode, which unfolded throughout Black Historical past Month, uncovered fault strains inside Trump-aligned Black conservatism, the place some expressed deep disappointment that the video was shared in any respect, whereas others defended the president and framed the controversy as an unlucky however human error.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he flies aboard Air Power One from Joint Base Andrews, Md., to West Palm Seaside, Fla., Friday, Feb. 6, 2026
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Among the many critics was the Black Conservative Federation, a Trump aligned group that has maintained shut ties to the president and issued a uncommon important assertion.
“Depicting Black public figures in a dehumanizing method, significantly imagery traditionally used to demean Black People, is unacceptable, offensive, and indefensible,” the group stated in an announcement, earlier than additionally expressing its continued backing for Trump’s insurance policies.
Trump instructed reporters he did not see your entire video earlier than it was shared on his social media platform late Thursday evening and recommended he will not apologize for it.
“I assume throughout the finish of it, there was some form of image folks don’t love. I would not prefer it both, however I did not see it,” Trump stated. “I simply, I seemed on the first half, and it was actually about voter fraud.”
On the finish of the video, the Obamas’ faces seem abruptly on the our bodies of apes with out clarification with the music “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” enjoying over it, earlier than the clip ends again on imagery tied to election conspiracy video footage. The video was shared on the president’s account at 11:44 p.m. ET Thursday, and the White Home stated round midday Friday that it had been taken down.
Requested if he would apologize, Trump stated, “No, I did not make a mistake. I imply … I take a look at plenty of, hundreds of, issues, and I seemed initially of it. It was effective.” Requested if he condemned the racist portion of the video, Trump stated, “In fact I do.”
The Obamas declined to remark when ABC Information reached out to their representatives. The White Home didn’t instantly reply to ABC Information’ requests for remark.
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially dismissed the backlash, saying early Friday that the clip got here from “an web meme video depicting President Trump because the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” and urged reporters to “cease the pretend outrage.”
Later Friday afternoon, a White Home official instructed ABC Information {that a} “staffer erroneously made the publish.”
Sen. Tim Scott from South Carolina, the longest serving Black senator in U.S. historical past and some of the outstanding Black conservatives in Washington, publicly criticized the publish.
“Praying it was pretend as a result of it’s probably the most racist factor I’ve seen out of this White Home,” Scott wrote on X. “The President ought to take away it.”
Trump later instructed reporters he spoke with Scott by cellphone. In the course of the name, Trump stated he instructed Scott the video had been posted by a staffer by mistake and can be taken down, in response to a supply acquainted with the dialog. The publish was later eliminated.
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 05: Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and City Affairs Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) arrives for a listening to with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent within the Dirksen Senate Workplace Constructing on February 05, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Committee met to listen to testimony on the Monetary Stability Oversight Council’s Annual Report back to Congress.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photographs
The Black Conservative Federation stated in its assertion, “This content material displays a severe lapse in judgment by a staffer accountable for digital posting and will by no means have been created, accepted, or shared.” The group added, “It’s exactly this type of careless and lazy habits that undermines credibility, distracts from substantive coverage progress, and damages belief with Black People who count on higher from these entrusted with public platforms.”
Whereas condemning the publish, the group sought to separate the incident from Trump’s coverage agenda and accomplishments from his first time period, citing the White Home’s HBCU funding; the Alternative Zones tax incentives for distressed communities, the First Step Act prison justice reform; and affordability initiatives as examples of what it described as Trump’s tangible advantages for Black communities.
Diante Johnson, the group’s founder and president, served on the Trump marketing campaign’s Black Voices for Trump advisory board throughout the 2020 election. Trump headlined the group’s gala in February 2024.
Different Trump-aligned Black conservatives defended the president extra forcefully. CJ Pearson, a outstanding Black conservative influencer who beforehand labored on Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign, stated the publish seemed to be a mistake.
“This explicit clip was clearly posted in error and I am glad to see that it has since been deleted,” Pearson instructed ABC Information. He added that the video didn’t change his view of Trump’s document with Black voters.
“There may be not a racist bone in President Trump’s physique and an by chance posted video clip doesn’t diminish the truth that this President has achieved extra for the Black neighborhood than another President in American historical past,” he added.
Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds’ workforce known as the White Home Friday in regards to the publish, an official together with his gubernatorial marketing campaign confirmed to ABC Information.
“Workforce Byron Donalds known as the White Home and discovered {that a} staffer had let POTUS down,” the marketing campaign official stated in an announcement.
Pierre Wilson, a senior Turning Level USA chief and founding father of TPUSA RISE, stated he wouldn’t have shared the video however believes the backlash has been overstated.
“I would not have shared the video myself, however I additionally suppose the response to it’s wildly overblown,” Wilson stated. “I do know President Trump personally. He isn’t a racist. He is a person with a blunt humorousness and an equal alternative method relating to satire and criticism.”
For a lot of Trump aligned Black conservatives, the episode underscored the complexity of supporting a president they credit score with coverage progress, whereas navigating moments that reignite racial tensions and lift questions on illustration, messaging and belief, particularly throughout Black Historical past Month.
ABC Information’ Justin Gomez, Isabella Murray, Hannah Demissie, Michelle Stoddart, Sarah Kolinovsky and Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.
