US President Donald Trump posted an openly racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys, then deleted it after a wave of condemnation, including from members of his own party.
The clip, set to the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," was inserted near the end of a 62-second video promoting conspiracy theories about alleged anomalies in the 2020 presidential election. It is the latest in a long line of cases in which Trump has promoted offensive depictions and derogatory terms about black Americans and others, the New York Times reports.
The decision to delete the link from his social media account was an unusual move for Trump, whose spokeswoman had dismissed criticism of the video just hours earlier.
"This is from an internet 'meme' video depicting President Trump as the king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from 'The Lion King,'" Carolyn Levitt said in a statement, before Trump deleted the clip.
"Please stop the fake outrage and report today on something that really matters to the American public."
Depicting Michelle and Barack Obama as apes perpetuates a racist stereotype that was historically used by slave traders and segregationists to dehumanize black people and justify lynchings, the New York Times writes.
The media outlet states that Trump has a history of making derogatory statements about people of color, women and immigrants, and has specifically attacked the Obamas for years.
Throughout the Trump administration, racist images and slogans have become common on official websites. The White House, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Homeland Security have also promoted social media posts that echo white supremacist messages.
The video, which Trump shared in a series of posts, drew widespread condemnation, including from within his own party.
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina - the only black Republican in the Senate and a close Trump ally - wrote on the X network that he hoped the post was fake "because it's the most racist thing I've seen coming out of this White House."
"The president should remove her," he added.
Scott is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the party's campaign arm charged with holding on to the Senate, a key role ahead of the November midterm elections.
Congressman Mike Lawlor, a Republican from New York, called the president's post "wrong and incredibly offensive." He said the video "should be deleted immediately with an apology."
Trump's attacks on Obama have been going on for years. Trump has been spreading a false conspiracy theory that Obama was not born in the United States, but in Kenya, and that this made him an illegitimate president.
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