Barack Obama has broken his silence after President Trump shared a racist video of the former president and his wife Michelle Obama depicted as monkeys.
During an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, the 64-year-old addressed the controversial post.
“It’s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” he said.
“It is true that it gets attention, that it’s a distraction, but as I’m traveling around the country … you meet people [and] they still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness. And there’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television.”
“And 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 the sense of propriety and respect for the office. That’s been lost,” he continued.
© InstagramTrump sparked outrage when he posted the now-deleted video on Truth Social on the evening of February 5th in which he confirmed, was “not a mistake.”
“I mean I look at a lot of thousands of things. I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine,” Trump continued. “I guess it was a take off on The Lion King and certainly it was a very strong post in terms of voter fraud.”
© AFP via Getty Images“Nobody knew that that was in the end. If they would have seen it and probably they would have had the sense to take it down,” he added.
The White House Press Secretary Karoline Levitt also made a follow up statement: “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage…” she said.
The White House also claimed that “a White House staffer erroneously made the post,” and when asked if the staffer had “fired or disciplined,” Trump responded: “No, I haven’t.”
Barack and Donald’s rivalry has been among the most notable in modern American politics.
© AFP via Getty ImagesDonald was a key figure in the unfounded ‘birther’ movement, which falsely claimed Barack had not been born in the United States. In response to the persistent rumors, Barack released his long-form Hawaiian birth certificate in 2011.
Following Donald’s 2016 election victory, tensions escalated further when he accused Barack of ordering federal surveillance on his campaign due to alleged ties to Russia.
He has frequently referred to his predecessor by his full name, emphasizing ‘Hussein’ in what many saw as a dog whistle to his base.
Barack, in turn, has not shied away from criticizing Donald. At the Democratic National Convention, he poked fun at his successor’s fixation on crowd sizes, making a gesture with his hands just inches apart in what many perceived as a pointed joke.
Later, he compared Donald’s drawn-out speeches to those of Fidel Castro, joking that they “just go on and on.”
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