Former US President Barack Obama spoke for the first time about the racist video shared by President Donald Trump on social media, depicting him and his wife Michelle Obama as monkeys. Obama described the post in question as “extremely disturbing.”
“THE SENSE OF COURTESY IS LOST IN THE SOCIETY”
In his interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, published on February 14, Obama drew attention to the increasing hate speech in the current political atmosphere. Obama, who did not directly mention Trump’s name, said, “There is some kind of clown show going on on social media and television.”
Emphasizing that most of the American society is disturbed by such behavior, Obama said, “People still believe in kindness, respect and goodness. However, the sense of shame in the public sphere seems to have disappeared.”
HOW WAS THE VIDEO THAT DRAWED A REACTION SHARED?
The video in question was deleted shortly after it was shared on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social on February 5. In the video, Barack and Michelle Obama’s faces were seen superimposed on two animated monkeys dancing to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
The images appeared in the final part of a video addressing false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 US elections and attracted great reaction.
TRUMP DID NOT APOLOGIZE
Trump refused to apologize for the video in response to a question from a journalist on February 6. Trump said, “No, I didn’t make a mistake,” and argued that he did not see any problem at the beginning of the post.
Trump also claimed that the video was inspired by The Lion King and said, “Nobody knew it would end this way. If they had known, they probably would have removed it.”
DEFENSE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump in her statement to People magazine. “Please stop the fake outrage,” Leavitt said, claiming the video was taken from an internet meme depicting President Trump as the “King of the Jungle.”
In the official statement made later, it was stated that the post was made “by mistake” by an unidentified White House employee and was subsequently removed.
NO PUNISHMENT TO THE RESPONSIBLE
On February 12, when a reporter asked if the person who shared the video had been fired, Trump replied, “No.” The White House did not share details about whether the staff in question received disciplinary punishment.
While Obama’s statements caused the debates about the election process and political language to reignite in the USA, the video also had a wide impact in the international community.
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