Former U.S. President Barack Obama criticized the degradation of political discourse in the country and the “buffoonish show” on social networks, days after President Donald Trump published and then deleted a video where Obama and former First Lady Michelle are depicted as apes.
“It’s important to recognize that most Americans find this behavior deeply troubling,” the former Democratic frontrunner (2009-2017) said when asked about the clip on journalist Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast.
Obama responds to Trump after racist video
Even when commenting on trump’s racist social media post of President Obama and Michelle, note how (unlike trump) he seems unbothered, and doesn’t sink to childish name-calling, he doesn’t even say his name.
He will ALWAYS be the bigger, better man.pic.twitter.com/d90lr4iPmz
– BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) February 15, 2026
Without directly alluding by name to Trump or members of his Cabinet, who often use memes and controversial images to promote their policies on networks, Obama acknowledged that this strategy “draws attention” and works as “a distraction.”
“There is this sort of buffoonish show on social networks and on television. And what is true is that there no longer seems to be any shame about this among people who used to feel that one had to keep a certain decorum, a sense of propriety and respect for the office. That has been lost,” the former president said in the podcast, published Saturday on the YouTube platform.
The racist depiction of the Obamas as chimpanzees in a jungle, accompanied by music from “The Lion King,” is included in a video about alleged intervention to manipulate Dominion Voting Systems’ voting machines in the 2020 presidential election, in which Democrat Joe Biden prevailed over Trump.
The video was published late on the night of Thursday, February 5, by Trump’s official account on his Truth Social network, where the president mixes official announcements of the Administration with links to press articles, memes, images made with artificial intelligence and shares publications of his followers.
The clip mocking the marriage is shown around the last second of the post shared by the Republican and appears to have been created by an Instagram user (xerias_x), who creates AI videos and pro-Trump memes.
The publication generated harsh criticism even from members of the Republican Party, including Tim Scott, an African-American senator from South Carolina who is considered a close ally of the New York tycoon.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt reacted shortly thereafter by trying to downplay the controversy, saying that the anger generated by the content was “feigned indignation.”
However, on Friday, February 6, Trump’s Truth Social account removed the video and the White House attributed its posting to an Administration employee.
The Republican has refused to apologize. “I didn’t make a mistake,” he told reporters aboard AF1 the same day the clip was deleted.
Trump added that he is not going to fire the person who shared on his account the video, which he claimed not to have seen in full and that, he said, he just “gave it to people” to post.
Filed under: Obama responds to Trump
With information from EFE
