White House Lies About Staffer Posting Racist Images of Barack, Michelle Obama As Apes, TikToker Claims

US President Donald Trump sparked outrage online after sharing a video featuring former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes on social media. Many found the post, which has since been deleted, offensive and racist.

The White House initially blamed a staffer who reportedly posted it by mistake. However, one TikToker was not convinced because the controversial post was shared on Trump's personal account, and they never named the employee they claimed was behind the post. TikTok creator Aaron Parnas questioned the White House's explanation and provided multiple reasons for his scepticism.

TikToker Questions Official Account

'I think the White House is lying to the American public about the fact that a White House staffer allegedly posted the racist video containing images of Michelle and Barack Obama as apes,' Parnas said. To clarify his point, he noted that it was shared on Trump's 'personal social account' and not any other government page. He cited Trump's previous statements in which the POTUS admitted to posting on Truth Social.

In an interview with NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas, Trump was asked about the conspiracy theories he shared online, and the POTUS admitted he was behind some of the posts, even though he didn't believe them, because it had become a habit. 'Sometimes I will retweet,' Trump explained. 'I'll retruth.'

Parnas questioned the timing of the post as it was made past 11pm. 'You're telling me that a White House staffer is up right before midnight, posting on the president's Truth Social account?' he asked. 'No, that's typically the president himself.' He also questioned who would have access to Trump's social media platform, believing it would be a 'high-level staffer' and not an intern if Trump trusted his account to anyone.

Lastly, he questioned why the White House hadn't released the name of the staffer who posted the controversial message on Trump's account. According to him, they were 'kind of just sweeping it under the rug.'

White House Response

The White House immediately released a statement to address the controversy. According to them, Trump wasn't the one behind the much-talked-about post that had already been removed. 'A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,' a White House official said.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, also issued a statement on the subject, seemingly dismissing the backlash by saying that it was an 'internet meme video' where the president was depicted as the 'King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King'. 'Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public,' she added.

Racist Imagery Sparks Backlash

The video at the centre of the scandal featured a two-second segment where the faces of the former first couple, the Obamas, were superimposed onto the bodies of dancing apes. This imagery was set to the tune of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', a choice critics say was intended to heighten the mockery.

Many found the post racist and offensive, sparking intense discussion on social media. Even Senator Tim Scott, a Republican politician, disapproved of the post and said Trump 'should remove it' shortly after it was posted. Scott added he was hoping that it was 'fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House.'