Obama speaks out on Trump's racist ape post, rips social media 'clown show'

Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News on Feb 14, 2026

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Barack Obama has finally addressed the racist video President Donald Trump posted of him and Michelle Obama, slamming the move as part of a “clown show” meant to distract from the real issues at hand.

The animated clip shared on Truth Social last week depicted Trump as a lion and the Obamas as apes in a jungle. It quickly drew bipartisan condemnation, with Tim Scott of South Carolina, the Senate’s only Black Republican, calling it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”

Still, it took roughly 12 hours before the video was deleted.

Appearing on liberal pundit Brian Tyler Cohen’s Saturday podcast, Obama spoke out about the bigoted cartoon, saying it doesn’t reflect how most people think or behave.

“First of all, I think it’s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” said the 44th president, conceding that it does serve as an effective distraction and ploy for attention.

According to Obama, when he travels around the country, he experiences a kind of civility that’s far different from the behavior playing out on platforms like Truth Social and X.

“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television,” he said.

Obama didn’t mention Trump by name, but lamented the lack of decency across the administration as a whole.

“What is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office,” Obama said. “So that’s been lost.”

According to the former president, the majority of the public is against hostility and intolerance, as evidenced by the protests against the “rogue behavior” of immigration officials in Minneapolis and beyond.

The 64-year-old Democrat believes that Americans will ultimately show their disapproval for the Trump administration through their actions in their neighborhoods and at the ballot box.

As for Trump’s response to the backlash to his post, the president attempted to pass the blame to an unnamed White House staffer, claimed he hadn’t seen the whole video and refused to apologize for any mistake.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt originally tried to shut down the criticism by telling the media to “stop the fake outrage” and report on something “that actually matters.”

The botched response was not taken well, even by Trump allies.