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By Anna Commander and Gabe Whisnant
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President Donald Trump broke his daylong silence after bipartisan backlash erupted on Friday after his social media post featuring former President Barack Obama and ex-first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle.
The president was asked about the since-deleted post on Air Force One as he traveled from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.
"The White House says that a staffer sent it. Who sent it and are you going to fire them?" a reporter said to Trump
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The president responded, in part, "No. I looked at it. I saw it, and I just looked at the first part ... I didn’t see the whole thing." Trump later added, "I gave it to the people," and "they posted" it.
Why It Matters
The White House had earlier defended the video as an “internet meme” in part before the post was removed amid bipartisan criticism.
The clip drew immediate condemnation, as portraying Black people as apes and monkeys is a deep-seated racist trope spanning centuries. Republicans and Democrats have pressed for its removal and an apology.
Neither Barack nor Michelle have issued a public statement regarding the video.
What To Know
Trump was also asked if he was going to apologize. He replied, in part, "No, I didn't make a mistake. I mean, I look at a lot of thousands of things, and I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine … I guess it was a takeoff on The Lion King."
Nearly all of the 62-second clip appears to be taken from a conservative video that falsely alleges tampering with voting machines in battleground states during the 2020 vote count. Near the end of the clip is a brief image showing two jungle primates with the smiling faces of the former first couple superimposed.
The images were drawn from a separate video previously shared by a prominent conservative meme creator. That video portrays Trump as “King of the Jungle” and depicts several Democratic leaders as animals, including former President Joe Biden, who is shown as a primate eating a banana.
Trump continued on Air Force One, "It was a very strong post in terms of voter fraud. Nobody knew that was at the end. If they would have looked, they would have seen it, and probably they would have the sense to take it down."
The president also said he spoke to Tim Scott of South Carolina, the lone Black Republican in the Senate, who wrote in an X post on Friday: “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it.”
Trump added to reporters, "I spoke to Tim Scott, and he was great. Tim is a great guy. He understood that 100 percent."
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What People Are Saying
Political analyst and former adviser to Obama, David Axelrod, on X Friday: "No one apparently told the@PressSec that @POTUS's racist retweet late last night portraying the Obamas as apes was a staff mistake, because she defended it this AM and accused the critics of 'phony outrage.'"
The NAACP, on X Friday: "Trump posting this video — especially during Black History Month — is a stark reminder of how Trump and his followers truly view people. And we’ll remember that in November."
What Happens Next
It remains unclear whether the staffer who purportedly posted the video faced discipline measures.
Update 2/6/26, 9:13 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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