Verify any claim · lenz.io
Claim analyzed
Politics“Donald Trump posted a video that has been described by some as racist.”
The conclusion
This claim is accurate. In early February 2026, a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes was posted to Donald Trump's Truth Social account. It was widely and explicitly described as racist by multiple major news outlets, lawmakers from both parties, and notably Republican Senator Tim Scott. The claim's careful phrasing — "posted a video" and "described by some as racist" — is fully supported and, if anything, understates the breadth of condemnation. Trump later deleted the video but never formally apologized.
Based on 15 sources: 8 supporting, 1 refuting, 6 neutral.
Caveats
- Trump denied personally seeing or uploading the offensive portion, with the White House attributing the post to an unnamed staffer — though the video appeared on his verified account.
- The phrase 'described by some as racist' significantly understates the reaction: condemnation was widespread and bipartisan, not a fringe minority view.
- The video was eventually deleted from Trump's account, though Trump never formally apologized and later said no staffer had been disciplined.
Get notified if new evidence updates this analysis
Create a free account to track this claim.
Sources
Sources used in the analysis
President Donald Trump shared on his social media platform overnight a video that includes a racist animation of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama depicted with the bodies of apes, sparking condemnation from some lawmakers and demands that the post be taken down. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked for comment, 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.
As Trump sought to downplay the abject racism his White House initially defended, before blaming on an unnamed staffer, he described the video as a “fairly long video, they had a little piece that had to do with the Lion King.” The entire video was, in fact, just over a minute. The video posted on Trump's Truth Social account late at night spliced together part of a documentary that presented conspiracy theories about the 2020 election as fact, and a few seconds of the racist animation of the Obamas.
Donald Trump on Thursday continued to brush off widespread backlash over a racist video posted to his social media account last week, and said no White House staffer had faced consequences for the offensive post. The president then went on to excuse the racist clip, which depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as cartoon apes, as a reference to The Lion King, an animated film that has no apes in it.
Clearly he didn't get his own memo because, two days later, during one of his frenetic late-night Truth Social ranting sessions, the president posted a racist video that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. The minute-long video, made by a third party, amplified false claims that Trump won the 2020 election and showed the first Black president and first lady superimposed on the bodies of primates in a jungle setting, bobbing their heads to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
During an after-dark social media binge, the president posted more than 70 items or videos - including one portraying Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. At first, the White House did as it often does, go on the attack. "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.
President Trump is facing more push back this morning after a racist video was posted to his account depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes. The White House says the post has since been removed blaming a staffer not the president. Trump is not apologizing claiming he never saw that part of the video.
President Trump's recent social media post goes viral. Trump Time: A.I. generated social media post accused of being racist.
Aboard Air Force One, US President Donald Trump told reporters that he did not apologize for a video he published on social media containing an AI-generated clip of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes on Friday afternoon. The White House initially dismissed claims that the video was racist, arguing that the clip came from a longer meme depicting Trump and Democratic politicians as characters from The Lion King.
A related story link within the article states: 'Trump shifts blame to aide as he refuses to apologize for racist video of Obamas. 7 Feb 2026.'
Trump again defends racist video, says no one has been disciplined for posting it. Trump stated, "no I haven't that was a video on as you know voter fraud. and fairly long video and they had a little piece and had to do with the Lion King." He further claimed, "the piece that you're talking about was all over the place many times I believe for years."
Simon's live update for Matt Frei's Saturday morning programme on the UK's LBC discusses 'the ongoing fury over Trump's racist social media re-post portraying the Obamas as primates in a jungle.' It also notes that Senator Tim Scott, an African-American Republican, stated, 'This is the most racist thing I've seen coming out of the White House.'
During a recent press briefing, former President Donald Trump expressed his concerns regarding the surge of AI-generated content, particularly in the realm of images and videos. He cautioned that in the event of a serious incident, there might be a tendency to “just blame AI,” underscoring the need for a nuanced understanding of its potential impacts.
When asked directly about recent controversies, including the president's widely criticized social media post that drew accusations of racism, some attendees downplayed the significance or dismissed it outright. Hassan called the incident a distraction, saying, “President Trump clearly said that video was not a part of what he was intending to share. And I take that as his word.”
The sign and protest were a direct response to a video posted on Trump's Truth Social account, which, in its final moments, depicted the Obamas as primates. According to The Associated Press, Trump claimed he had not seen the offensive part of the video before it was posted, attributing its appearance to a staffer: “I didn't see the whole thing.
Trump's posts broadly fit into three categories: attacking perceived foes, reposting praise and posting no-context images or videos of himself, like an elderly relative in a family group chat. This article from May 2025 describes Trump's increasingly bizarre social media posts on Truth Social, including no-context images or videos, and his use of 'cruel language to describe his democratic opponents.'
What do you think of the claim?
Your challenge will appear immediately.
Challenge submitted!
Expert review
How each expert evaluated the evidence and arguments
Expert 1 — The Logic Examiner
The claim states Trump "posted a video that has been described by some as racist" — this is a deliberately modest claim with two components: (1) that Trump posted the video, and (2) that some described it as racist. On component (1), the evidence across Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, and 14 uniformly confirms the video appeared on Trump's Truth Social account; the opponent's argument that Trump's personal authorship is "unestablished" commits a scope fallacy — the claim says "posted," not "personally typed and uploaded," and posting from one's own account is the standard meaning regardless of staff delegation. On component (2), the "described by some as racist" qualifier is the weakest possible threshold, and it is overwhelmingly satisfied: ABC News, The Guardian (multiple articles), KHOU 11, LBC, The Jerusalem Post, and even Republican Senator Tim Scott (Source 11) explicitly called it racist — the opponent's argument that this is a "minority characterization" is a false equivalence fallacy, as the evidence shows the racist description is the dominant characterization, not a fringe one, and the claim only requires "some." The logical chain from evidence to claim is direct, unambiguous, and the opponent's rebuttals rely on scope fallacies and false equivalence rather than dismantling the core inferential chain.
Expert 2 — The Context Analyst
The claim uses carefully hedged language — "posted a video" (from his account, regardless of who uploaded it) and "described by some as racist" — which is technically accurate and well-supported. The video was posted to Trump's Truth Social account (Sources 1, 2, 3, 6, 8), and it was described as racist by numerous lawmakers, journalists, and even Republican Senator Tim Scott, who called it "the most racist thing I've seen coming out of the White House" (Source 11). The opponent's argument that Trump didn't personally post it is a distinction without a difference for the claim's framing — the post came from his verified account, and the claim does not assert personal authorship. The "described by some as racist" qualifier is, if anything, an understatement: the condemnation was widespread and bipartisan, not a fringe minority view. The only missing context is that Trump denied seeing the offensive portion and blamed a staffer, and that a small number of supporters dismissed the racism characterization — but these nuances do not undermine the claim's truthfulness, they merely add texture. The claim gives a fair and accurate overall impression of what occurred.
Expert 3 — The Source Auditor
The most authoritative sources in this pool — ABC News (Source 1, authority 0.85), The Guardian (Sources 2, 3, 4, authority 0.85–0.78), The Jerusalem Post (Source 8, authority 0.75), and KHOU 11 (Source 6, authority 0.75) — all independently confirm that a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes was posted to Donald Trump's Truth Social account and was widely described as racist, including by Republican Senator Tim Scott (Source 11). The claim uses deliberately modest language ("posted a video" and "described by some as racist"), both of which are unambiguously confirmed: the video was posted from Trump's account (regardless of staff involvement, which is a separate question of authorship), and it was explicitly characterized as racist by multiple credible, independent outlets and lawmakers. The opponent's argument about personal authorship is a semantic stretch — "Trump posted" is standard journalistic shorthand for content appearing on his account, and no reliable source disputes that the video appeared there. The "described by some as racist" qualifier is easily satisfied and is not undermined by Source 13 (Capital B News, authority 0.65), a lower-authority outlet documenting a minority of supporters who dismissed the controversy. Sources 7 and 12 are dated (2025) and less directly relevant, and Source 14 (Grand Pinnacle Tribune, authority 0.55) is a lower-tier outlet, but the core claim is overwhelmingly supported by high-authority, independent reporting.
Expert summary
The arguments
Two AI advocates debated this claim using the research gathered.
Argument for
Multiple independent outlets report that Donald Trump posted (or shared) a video on his Truth Social account that included an animation depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, which prompted widespread backlash and was explicitly characterized as racist (Source 1, ABC News; Source 3, The Guardian; Source 6, KHOU 11). Even accounts that discuss Trump's attempts to deflect responsibility still describe the post as “widely criticized” and drawing “accusations of racism,” directly satisfying the claim that the video has been described by some as racist (Source 2, The Guardian; Source 8, The Jerusalem Post; Source 13, Capital B News).
Your argument conflates "posted to his account" with "posted by Trump personally" — a critical distinction, since Source 6 (KHOU 11), Source 8 (The Jerusalem Post), and Source 14 (Grand Pinnacle Tribune) all confirm the White House attributed the upload to an unnamed staffer and Trump denied seeing the offensive portion, meaning you have not established that Trump himself was the author of the post as the claim requires. Additionally, your invocation of Source 13 (Capital B News) actually undermines your case, as it documents supporters explicitly dismissing the racism accusation as a "distraction," proving the "described by some as racist" framing is a contested minority characterization rather than the settled, dominant one your argument implies.
Argument against
The claim that Trump "posted" the video is fundamentally misleading — multiple sources, including Source 6 (KHOU 11), Source 8 (The Jerusalem Post), and Source 14 (Grand Pinnacle Tribune), confirm that Trump himself denied seeing the offensive portion and the White House attributed the post to an unnamed staffer, meaning Trump's personal authorship of the post is unestablished. Furthermore, the characterization that it has been described "by some" as racist dramatically understates the contested framing: Source 13 (Capital B News) documents supporters who explicitly dismissed the racism accusation as a "distraction," and Trump's own defense — echoed in Source 10 (YouTube) — was that the video was about voter fraud with a Lion King reference, undermining the claim's implication that the racist description is the settled or dominant characterization rather than a disputed one.
You're conflating “Trump didn't personally upload/notice it” with “Trump didn't post it,” but the motion is satisfied by the uncontested fact that the video was posted from Trump's Truth Social account and reported as such (Source 1, ABC News; Source 2, The Guardian; Source 3, The Guardian), regardless of staff involvement or after-the-fact blame-shifting (Source 6, KHOU 11; Source 8, The Jerusalem Post; Source 14, Grand Pinnacle Tribune). And your “contested framing” point is a red herring: the claim only requires that some described it as racist, which is explicitly met by multiple reports calling the depiction racist while noting Trump's defenses and a few supporters' dismissals (Source 1, ABC News; Source 3, The Guardian; Source 13, Capital B News; Source 10, YouTube).