Donald Trump addresses racist video of Obamas that was posted from his account
Donald Trump has again downplayed the 'racist' video of Barack and Michelle Obama shared to his social media site while fielding questions from reporters.
The blame for the post shared to the US President's Truth Social account has been pinned on an unidentified White House staffer, who supposedly 'erroneously' uploaded it.
But no disciplinary action has been taken against the aide responsible, and if Trump's latest comments are anything to go by, it seems they won't face any repercussions at all.
Earlier this month, the 79-year-old world leader sparked outrage after uploading footage which depicted the former president and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama, as apes.
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The Tokens' hit, 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', played in the background while this racist imagery appeared on screen.
The video also made a string of unfounded claims about the 2020 presidential election being 'stolen' from Trump, alleging that voting was rigged in Joe Biden's favour.
The clip was later removed, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed it simply showed 'President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King'.
She previously told LADbible the clip was originally made by X user Xerias, while adding: "Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."
Trump then responded to the backlash himself, but stopped short of offering an apology to the Obamas.
He told reporters that he had not seen the clip in its entirety as he only watched 'the first part about voter fraud', before 'giving it to the people' in a presumed reference to White House staffers.
"Generally, they look at the whole thing but I guess somebody didn't and they posted it," he said. "We took it down as soon as we found out about it."
Trump also acknowledged the video contained content 'that people don't like', adding: "I wouldn't like it either, but I didn't see it."
The commander-in-chief then insisted he 'didn't make a mistake' and dubbed himself the 'least racist president' that has been in office 'in a long time'.
Trump said: "I look at a lot of, thousands of things, I looked at the beginning of it, it was fine.
"If you look at where it came from, I guess it was a take off of the Lion King. And certainly it was a very strong post in terms of voter fraud. Nobody knew that that was at the end."
Although you might think that this incident would have triggered an internal investigation at the White House, or at the very least prompt disciplinary action for the person behind the post, you'd be dead wrong.
On Thursday (12 February), the president was asked whether he had 'fired or disciplined' the staff member.
"No, I haven’t," Trump responded. "That was a video on, as you know, voter fraud, and a fairly long video, and they had a little piece and had to do with The Lion King.
"It’s been very well, 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 - very strong piece on voter fraud. And the piece that you’re talking about is all over the place, many times, I believe for years."
Despite Trump doubling down on his The Lion King defence, this doesn't really stand up, as there are no apes in the Disney film aside from the mandrill monkey Rafiki.
Vice President JD Vance also previously said the row over the racist video was 'not a real controversy' and suggested focus should instead fall on 'real problems'.
Topics: Barack Obama, Donald Trump, US News, Politics, Racism
Olivia Burke