Washington: US President Donald Trump has declined to apologise for sharing a now-deleted video on his Truth Social account that included a brief, racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, saying he “didn’t make a mistake” despite widespread condemnation.
Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One on Friday, rejecting calls for an apology and insisting he had only watched the start of the clip and was unaware of the offensive imagery at the end. He said the video, which was posted late Thursday, was deleted “as soon as we found out about it.” The president claimed he viewed just the beginning, a segment focused on his false claims about the 2020 election before handing it off to aides to post.
Pressed by journalists about why he would not apologise, Trump remained defiant. “No, I didn’t make a mistake,” he said, while also asserting that he condemned the racist portion of the video.
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The minute-long clip was up on Trump’s social platform for nearly 12 hours before being taken down amid bipartisan criticism from civil rights groups, Democratic leaders and some members of Trump’s own Republican Party. Senior Republicans, including Senator Tim Scott, called the portrayal blatant and unacceptable, helping prompt the deletion.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the post, portraying it as an internet meme and urging critics to move on, before officials later said the video was posted in error by a staff member.
The brief segment showing the Obamas superimposed on ape bodies occurred near the end of a video that otherwise echoed Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations that ballot-counting company Dominion Voting Systems had played a role in his 2020 election loss, a claim repeatedly rejected by courts and election officials.
Trump’s stance has drawn sharp rebukes from opponents who say the imagery invokes racist tropes, and from some Republicans concerned about its political fallout. Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic figures publicly criticised the White House’s handling of the episode.
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