President Donald Trump spent his Thursday night in full meltdown mode on Truth Social, firing off a barrage of more than 60 posts that ranged from goofy TikTok dog clips to boiled-down election conspiracies—but it was one grotesque, racist bit of imagery that has Washington buzzing.
In the closing seconds of a conspiracy-laden video about bogus election fraud claims, Trump’s Truth Social feed briefly cut to a clip showing former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s faces superimposed onto the bodies of animated apes. The soundtrack? “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The Daily Boulder and other outlets declined to publish the video itself due to its offensive nature.
And what did the Republican Party do when one of the most recognizable racist tropes was broadcast from the GOP’s leading figure’s megaphone? Crickets.
The post, coming during Black History Month and part of an obsessive late-night posting spree, has predictably ignited outrage from across the political spectrum. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office blasted the stunt on X, calling it “Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.” Former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes unloaded even harsher language, warning that Trump and his followers will be remembered as a “stain” on American history while the Obamas are “beloved figures.”
This isn’t an isolated blip. Trump’s provocation was sandwiched between reposts of debunked election rigging claims and attacks on Democrats like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, as well as far-right clips from figures such as Laura Loomer confronting CNN’s Jake Tapper. In the midst of this barrage, he also dredged up footage related to Jeffrey Epstein that he apparently thinks helps his narrative, despite mounting lawsuits and public scrutiny around that topic.
The racist depiction of the Obamas was buried near the end of the clip, but it was enough to trigger immediate condemnation on social media and beyond. Political strategist Adam Parkhomenko posted on X that the imagery was “overt racism. Full stop” and insisted there’s “no excuse” for it, saying the stunt shows “who he is, who he’s always been, and why he should never be anywhere near power again.”
What’s striking isn’t just the content—it’s the vacuum of Republican leadership responding. Newsom’s demand for GOP denouncement underscores a growing frustration: a president publicly circulating racist imagery without a meaningful pushback from his own party. Critics argue this isn’t a misstep but part of a broader pattern of Trump weaponizing manipulated media against political enemies.
Trump’s late-night posting binge also shows how utterly untethered his online behavior has become. From election lies to meme warfare, this wasn’t just a series of random posts—it was a coordinated dump of fringe talking points, recycled attacks, and, now, a painfully racist depiction of two of the most recognizable Black leaders in U.S. history.
