'Most racist thing I've seen out of this White House': Tim Scott slams Trump for post depicting Obamas as monkeys

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) fiercely condemned a social media post shared by President Donald Trump late Thursday depicting former President and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys.

“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” he wrote on X on Friday morning. “The President should remove it.”

The post, a minutelong video rife with conspiracy theories about voting machines in the 2020 election, cuts to a short clip of the Obamas in monkey form, dancing to the tune of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” a 1961 song featured in the Disney hit, “The Lion King.”

Depicting Black people as monkeys or apes is a centuries-old racist trope.

The post drew widespread backlash from Democrats. But the criticism from Scott — a longtime ally of Trump, once viewed as a potential vice presidential candidate, and the only Black Republican in the Senate — is particularly notable.

In a statement issued before Scott’s criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the backlash and said the clip came from a longer video that showed Trump as the Lion King and depicted top Democrats as jungle characters. Among others, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — all longtime rivals of the president — are shown as an elephant, boar, meerkat and giraffe, respectively.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/06/donald-trump-obamas-monkey-video-00768745