Clown show’: Barack Obama on Trump post depicting Obamas as apes
Former President Barack Obama has denounced a racist social media video posted by President Donald Trump that depicted him and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, calling the episode part of a shameless “clown show” and a sign that shame and decorum have vanished from American political life.
In a Feb. 14 interview with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama was asked about a string of inflammatory messages from the Trump White House, including the now‑deleted clip and harsh rhetoric from immigration officials. He said most Americans find such behavior “deeply troubling,” but added that many in power “used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety, and respect for the office,” which he argued has now been lost.
Trump’s minute‑long video, posted on his Truth Social account on Feb. 5, focused largely on false claims about the 2020 election before abruptly cutting to AI‑style images of the Obamas’ faces superimposed on apes, set briefly to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The post drew swift bipartisan backlash and was removed hours later, with the White House first dismissing outrage as “fake” before blaming the upload on a staffer and insisting Trump had not watched the clip to the end.
Trump has refused to apologize, telling reporters he “didn’t make a mistake” and maintaining that the video was taken down “as soon as we found out about it,” even as he acknowledged condemning the racist portion. Civil rights advocates and some Republicans say the episode, and the administration’s shifting explanations, highlight a pattern of racially charged messaging and a willingness to traffic in dehumanizing stereotypes for political effect.
Obama tied the uproar to a broader erosion of norms, arguing that such conduct from a sitting president would once have been politically disqualifying. He suggested that any path back from the current discourse will depend on voters demanding leaders who value truth, empathy and a basic sense of decency over what he dismissed as a social‑media “clown show.”