Donald Trump has offered up a bizarre new excuse for posting a racist video depicting the Obamas as apes, claiming it was justified because the clip had already gone viral.
The president also admitted that none of his staffers had been disciplined over the matter, despite the White House initially blaming an unnamed aide for “erroneously” pushing out the vile video on social media.
“That was a video on, as you know, on voter fraud,” Trump, 79, told reporters when asked about it in the White House on Thursday.
“It was a fairly long video, and they had a little piece and it had to do with the Lion King. It’s doing very well, uh, it’s been shown all over the place, long before that was posted.
“But that was a very strong - and I’m sure you saw it - a very strong piece on voter fraud, and the piece we were talking about was all over the place, many times I believe, for years.”
The video was posted last week during a wild overnight spree from Trump’s Truth Social account that involved no fewer than 66 posts between 10:36 p.m. and 12:25 a.m.
But the extent to which it had been distributed “all over the place” for years is not clear.
The video mostly pushed false claims about the 2020 U.S. election being stolen due to manipulated voting machines.
However, at the very end, it suddenly shows former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama with their faces superimposed on the bodies of chimpanzees, set to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
The image of the Obamas using an old racist trope sparked a furious backlash - including from Republicans who demanded that it be taken down immediately.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” said Trump ally Tim Scott, the sole Black Republican in the Senate. “The president should remove it.”
“This is totally unacceptable,” wrote fellow Republican Roger Wicker. “The president should take it down and apologize.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially sought to justify the actions of her boss, telling the media: “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
However, a few hours after Leavitt’s defense, the Truth Social post was gone, with the White House blaming a staffer for it.
The only two people known to have access to Trump’s Truth Social accounts are White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and former One America News personality Natalie Harp.
Asked Thursday if Trump had disciplined or fired the staffer, he simply replied: “No I haven’t.”
The president’s latest bizarre excuse comes merely a day after he embarked on a posting spree touting his friendship with Black celebrities.
Among them was convicted felon Diddy, accused child molester Michael Jackson and ear-biting boxer Mike Tyson.
“How quickly people forget. So Sad! President DJT,” Trump wrote alongside a video of him kissing Black babies and posing with high-profile Black people.
Next Wednesday, the White House also plans to host a reception in honor of Black History Month, with the Republican National Committee hosting a “Black Americans for Trump” trailblazer reception following the event.
Trump insists he’s done “more for Black Americans than anybody with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.”
But the president has had a history of incendiary rhetoric over the years.
For instance, he has singled out Black athletes who knelt during the national anthem to protest systemic racism, pushed “birther” conspiracy theories about Barack Obama, and last year shared digitally altered images and videos of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake mustache and a sombrero—imagery Jeffries publicly described as racist.
The Obamas did not respond to the vile video, opting to ignore it last week and instead push out posts celebrating the U.S. Olympic team.
