Convicted felon/sexual abuser/President Trump on Thursday night, February 5, posted a blatantly racist election conspiracy video that showed the heads of former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle superimposed on the bodies of apes, and set to the tune of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
The New York Times wrote,
“The clip was in line with Mr. Trump’s history of making degrading remarks about people of color, women and immigrants, and he has for years taken aim at the Obamas in particular. Across Mr. Trump’s administration, racist images and slogans have become common on official government websites and social media accounts, with the White House, Labor Department and Homeland Security Department all having promoted posts that echo white supremacist messaging.”
The post provoked a huge bipartisan backlash.
White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt defended the video by saying, “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 and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is Black and one of Trump’s most ardent supporters in Congress, said the post is “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it.”
Sen. Pete Ricketts, Republican from Nebraska, wrote on X.com (formerly Twitter), “Even if this was a ‘Lion King’ meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this. The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize.”
Republican House Representative Mike Lawler of New York posted, “The President’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.”
House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat from New York, N.Y., called Trump “a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder” and asked why GOP leaders were “continuing to stand by this sick individual.”
The post was deleted after about 12 hours, apparently due to the tidal wave of backlash.
The White House blamed “a staffer” for posting it, even though it came from Donald Trump’s personal Truth Social account, and was posted in the middle of the night. The Daily Beast counted that Trump went on a posting rampage and made at least 66 posts between 10:36 p.m and 12:25 a.m. last night.
Since The GOP’s head-in-the-sand approach to the madman isn’t working, maybe the rest of us should be more directive in our approach to The Twenty-first Century Bully. Jeff Hurd’s DC office number is (202) 225-4676. Call him up and see what he thinks is best for us and for our country.