February 6, 2026 – In a stunning late-night blunder that’s sent shockwaves through Washington and beyond, President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account shared a video containing a brief but explosive racist clip depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes — sparking bipartisan outrage, frantic damage-control calls, and finger-pointing inside the White House.
The 1-minute-2-second video, posted just before midnight on Thursday, February 5, 2026, started as a repost pushing debunked 2020 election conspiracy theories set to music like “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” But thanks to sloppy editing and autoplay, it ended with a roughly 2-second AI-generated meme showing the Obamas’ faces superimposed on dancing apes — a dehumanizing trope long condemned as deeply racist.
White House insiders quickly scrambled to contain the fallout. Multiple sources told outlets including the Daily Mail that the post was an error by a “bumbling Boomer” junior staffer who failed to trim the excess footage when the next reel auto-played. “It’s an obvious screen recording and the boomer who posted it on X didn’t trim off the excess… The aide didn’t notice that one second portion at the end of the video and it was never seen by the president,” one insider revealed.
Another source emphasized it was “posted by mistake by a ‘boomer’ who didn’t spot the Obama clip at the end of the original election video.” Top aides like Dan Scavino were explicitly cleared of involvement, with limited access to Trump’s account reportedly held by figures including Natalie Harp — though no one has been publicly named as the culprit.
The White House initially defended the post through Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called it “from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” dismissing the backlash as “fake outrage” and urging media to “report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
But hours later — amid condemnation from Republicans (including Sen. Tim Scott calling it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House”) and Democrats alike — the original post was quietly deleted. Insiders described “frantic calls” to President Trump as the controversy exploded, highlighting internal disarray and questions about social media protocols in the administration.
The incident revives long-standing criticisms of Trump’s online behavior and raises fresh concerns about oversight, AI-generated content in political discourse, and the potential for “mistakes” to fuel division. With the video bearing watermarks from meme accounts known for provocative AI edits, critics argue the brief clip was no accident — while the White House insists Trump never saw or approved the offending segment.
About the Author
