Obama Furious: Trump Video Sparks Monkey Allegations, Shame Accusations

WASHINGTON DC, KOMPAS.com – Former United States President Barack Obama has finally spoken out regarding the video shared by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, which depicts himself and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

The video uploaded last week shows the faces of Barack and Michelle Obama attached to the monkey’s body, with the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” playing in the background.

Initially, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the post “came from an internet meme video” and asked the public to “stop the fake outrage.”

Also read: Trump insists he doesn’t feel guilty about uploading video of Obama looking like a monkey, says it’s nothing new

However, as criticism increased, the post was deleted. A White House official told The Independent that a staffer “mistakenly created the post.”

Respons Obama

Obama’s comments appeared in a 47-minute interview with political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen which was published on Saturday (14/2/2026).

Cohen asked Obama’s response regarding the video and various forms of “atrocities” in public discourse from Trump and his allies.

Obama responded, “First of all, I think it’s important to recognize that the majority of Americans find this behavior deeply disturbing.”

“He does attract attention. He does become a distraction. But, when I travel around this country, when you travel around this country, you meet people — they still believe in decency, manners, kindness,” he continued.

Obama considers that shame and manners have disappeared from Trump and his supporters, even though the majority of the US people still have them.

“And there’s a kind of clown show going on on social media and on television, and what’s true is there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel that you had to have some kind of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for office. So that’s gone,” Obama added.

He also emphasized, “But the reason I pointed out that I don’t think the majority of the American people agree with this is because, ultimately, the answer is going to come from the American people.”

Also read: Trump refuses to apologize after uploading video of Obama looking like a monkey

Trump didn’t apologize

President Donald Trump refused to apologize when asked about the video on Friday (6/2/2026).

He told reporters he had “done nothing wrong.” When asked whether he had “fired or disciplined” the staffer who mistakenly posted the video, Trump replied, “No, I haven’t.”

The video drew widespread condemnation, including from some Republicans. Sen. Tim Scott, the only black Republican senator in the Senate, urged Trump to remove the video immediately after it was posted.

“Praying this is fake because this is the most racist thing I have ever seen from the White House. The President should take it down,” Scott wrote on the X platform.

Another Republican senator, Katie Britt, also condemned the video. He wrote on X, “This content deserved to be removed, it should never have been uploaded in the first place, and this is not who we are as a nation.”

Trump then reportedly became angry with the two for criticizing the post.

Also read: Trump’s excuse for racist video on Obama, accused staff of being wrong

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