Obama decries ‘clown show’ politics after racist Trump social post depicts Obamas as monkeys
Former President Barack Obama criticized what he called a collapse of “decorum” and “respect for the office” in American politics, responding for the first time to a video shared on Donald Trump’s Truth Social account that briefly depicted Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
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The video, posted Feb. 5, drew censure across the political spectrum. The White House initially dismissed criticism as “fake outrage,” then later blamed the post on a staff error and removed it.
In an interview released Monday with left-wing political podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama did not name Trump but said most Americans “find this behavior deeply troubling,” casting the episode as part of a broader decline in public life.
“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television, and what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? That’s been lost,” Obama said.
The minute-long video in question promoted baseless conspiracies about Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. Near its end, for about a second, the faces of Barack and Michelle Obama — the nation’s first Black president and first lady — were superimposed on the bodies of monkeys.
Obama framed the incident as evidence of a political culture in free fall. “And so again, we’ve seen the devolution of the discourse. How do we come back from a place that we have fallen into?” he said.
He predicted the rhetoric would carry electoral consequences for Republicans aligned with Trump, arguing that “ultimately, the answer is going to come from the American people.”
Trump has told reporters he stands by the thrust of the video’s claims about election fraud but said he had not seen the offensive clip at the end. His post’s removal followed a day of mounting backlash and internal finger-pointing over how the content was approved.
The depictions of the Obamas as monkeys — imagery with a long history of racist intent — intensified the furor and underscored how quickly inflammatory content can ricochet across social platforms. The flashpoint added to a series of controversies over political speech online, where provocative attacks frequently travel further than corrections or apologies.
Obama’s remarks placed responsibility not only on those who create and share such content but also on political figures he suggested once would have policed their own rhetoric. His appeal to “decorum” and “propriety” echoed earlier warnings he has made about the corrosion of democratic norms and the incentives of the social media ecosystem.
The episode also highlighted the political risks of embracing conspiracy-driven messaging. While it can mobilize a fervent base, it often alienates swing voters and galvanizes opponents — a dynamic Obama said could surface again in upcoming midterm campaigns.
Even as the post was deleted, the controversy persisted, fueled by the contrast between formal condemnations of racism and the viral life of the video itself. For Obama, the measure of any course correction lies with voters. “Ultimately,” he said, “the answer is going to come from the American people.”
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
