President Trump is pleading with November voters to remember his policy victories—and not his racist Truth Social posts.
Trump, 79, took to his social media platform Friday evening to brag about rolling back Obama-era restrictions on commercial fishing off the coast of New England. The post came one day after Trump earned widespread condemnation for posting an AI-generated video depicting the Obamas as apes.
“Today, I signed a Presidential Proclamation to UNLEASH Commercial Fishing in the Atlantic Ocean, advancing the America First Fishing Policy!“, Trump wrote.
“Please remember I did this for you, against strong Democrat opposition, and VOTE REPUBLICAN IN THE MIDTERMS!”
Trump’s Friday proclamation “restores commercial fishing access to all 4,913 square miles of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, located off the coast of New England.”
President Obama established the nearly 5,000-square-mile preserve east of Cape Cod in 2016, looking to protect vulnerable undersea coral ecosystems. Trump rolled back the protections in his first term, and Joe Biden restored them during his.
Trump described the proclamation as a benevolent favor to the New England area, which has voted for the Democratic candidate in all three presidential elections in which Trump has been on the ballot.
“Hard to believe you vote for Democrats who did this to you, but not for ‘TRUMP,’ who gets you out of this Environmental and Economic Malaise,” the president scolded, adding, “VOTE REPUBLICAN FROM NOW ON!”
Trump’s plea for midterm momentum comes at a time when all signs point to the Democrats dominating the GOP in November, with a serious chance to win back both chambers of Congress.
Trump’s awful polling on the economy and immigration—two issues that were strengths for him in his 2024 election victory—has become an albatross for vulnerable Republican incumbents.
Now, beleaguered GOP politicians have to square their re-election bids with their party leader posting grossly racist videos of his old political foes.
Trump posted a video that featured the heads of Barack and Michelle Obama superimposed onto apes during a late Thursday night posting spree.
The administration has thrown a myriad of excuses at the controversy. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was merely a Lion King meme, even though there are no apes in The Lion King. Trump said he didn’t see the offending part of the video, as it occurs toward the end of the clip.
The GOP is reportedly panicking over the post.
Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former Chief of Staff, reportedly told NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer that the clip ruined the Republicans’ slim chances of winning the midterms.
“I talked to several House members that are just besides themselves, and they don’t know how they’re going to handle it on the road,” Mulvaney added.
Notably, some GOP incumbents have broken from Trump on the video. Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts, up for reelection in 2026, was among several GOP politicians who unequivocally condemned Trump’s racist Obama post.
“Even if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this,” he posted on X. “The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize.”
