周四深夜，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在其社交媒体平台上分享了一段视频，其中包含种族主义动画，将前总统巴拉克·奥巴马和前第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马描绘成猿类身体，与特朗普政府有联系的数名黑人保守派人士随后罕见地公开谴责了这一行为。
该视频随后被删除，白宫称视频是工作人员误发的。
全国有色人种协进会(NAACP)主席德里克·约翰逊周五发表声明称，该视频“公然种族主义、令人作呕、极其可憎”。
但此事发生在黑人历史月期间，暴露了特朗普阵营中黑人保守派之间的分歧，一些人对此视频被分享深感失望，而另一些人则为总统辩护，称这一争议是不幸但属人为失误。
批评者中包括黑人保守派联合会，这是一个与特朗普结盟的团体，一直与总统保持密切联系，并发表了罕见的批评声明。
“以非人化的方式描绘黑人公众人物，尤其是使用历史上用于贬低非裔美国人的图像，是不可接受、令人反感且不可原谅的，”该团体在声明中表示，同时也表示继续支持特朗普的政策。
特朗普告诉记者，他在周四深夜该视频被分享到其社交媒体平台之前并未看过完整视频，并表示不会为此道歉。
“我猜在视频结尾，有一些人们不喜欢的画面。我也不喜欢，但我没看到，”特朗普说，“我只是看了开头部分，内容主要是关于选举舞弊的。”
视频结尾，奥巴马夫妇的脸突然出现在猿类身体上，且未作任何解释，同时播放歌曲《今夜狮子沉睡》，随后视频又回到与选举阴谋相关的画面。该视频于美国东部时间周四晚上11点44分发布在总统账号上，白宫称周五中午左右已将其删除。
当被问及是否会道歉时，特朗普说：“不，我没犯错。我是说……我看了很多东西，成千上万的东西，我看了开头部分，没问题。”当被问及是否谴责视频中的种族主义部分时，特朗普说：“我当然谴责。”
美国广播公司(ABC)新闻联系奥巴马夫妇的代表时，他们拒绝置评。白宫也未立即回应ABC新闻的置评请求。
白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特最初对这一事件表示不屑，周五早些时候称该片段来自“一个网络迷因视频，将特朗普总统描绘成丛林之王，将民主党人描绘成《狮子王》中的角色”，并敦促记者“停止虚假愤怒”。
周五下午晚些时候，一名白宫官员告诉ABC新闻，是“一名工作人员错误发布了该帖子”。
美国历史上任职时间最长的黑人参议员、华盛顿最著名的黑人保守派人士之一、来自南卡罗来纳州的参议员蒂姆·斯科特公开批评了该帖子。
“祈祷这是假的，因为这是我在白宫见过的最种族主义的事情，”斯科特在X平台(原推特)上写道，“总统应该删除它。”
特朗普后来告诉记者，他与斯科特通了电话。据一位熟悉对话的人士称，特朗普在通话中告诉斯科特，视频是工作人员误发的，将会被删除。该帖子后来被删除。
黑人保守派联合会在声明中表示：“这一内容反映了负责数字发布的工作人员在判断上的严重失误，本不应被创建、批准或分享。”该团体还表示：“正是这种粗心和懒惰的行为损害了信誉，分散了对实质性政策进展的注意力，并破坏了与那些期望公共平台上的代表做得更好的非裔美国人的信任。”
在谴责该帖子的同时，该团体试图将此事与特朗普的政策议程和第一任期内的成就区分开来，列举了白宫对传统黑人大学(HBCU)的投资、为贫困社区提供的“机会区”税收优惠、《第一步法案》刑事司法改革以及可负担性倡议等，称这些是特朗普为黑人社区带来的切实利益。
该团体创始人兼主席迪安特·约翰逊在2020年大选期间曾担任特朗普竞选团队“黑人支持特朗普之声”顾问委员会成员。特朗普曾担任该团体2024年2月晚宴的主讲嘉宾。
其他与特朗普结盟的黑人保守派人士则更为强烈地为总统辩护。曾参与特朗普2016年竞选活动的知名黑人保守派影响者CJ·皮尔森表示，该帖子似乎是误发的。
“这个特定片段显然是误发的，我很高兴看到它已被删除，”皮尔森告诉ABC新闻。他还表示，该视频并未改变他对特朗普在黑人选民中记录的看法。
“特朗普总统身上没有种族主义的影子，一个误发的视频片段并不能削弱这位总统为黑人社区所做的比美国历史上任何其他总统都多的事实，”他补充道。
佛罗里达州共和党众议员拜伦·唐纳德的团队周五就该帖子联系了白宫，其州长竞选活动的一位官员向ABC新闻证实了此事。
“拜伦·唐纳德团队联系了白宫，得知一名工作人员让总统失望了，”该竞选官员在声明中表示。
“转折点美国”(Turning Point USA)高级领导人、TPUSA RISE创始人皮埃尔·威尔逊表示，他不会分享该视频，但认为对此事的反应被夸大了。
“我自己不会分享这个视频，但我也认为对它的反应被过度夸大了，”威尔逊说，“我亲自了解特朗普总统。他不是种族主义者。他是一个直言不讳、幽默感直率的人，在讽刺和批评方面一视同仁。”
对于许多与特朗普结盟的黑人保守派人士来说，这一事件凸显了支持一位他们认为在政策上取得进展的总统的复杂性，同时还要应对那些重新点燃种族紧张局势、引发关于代表性、信息和信任质疑的时刻，尤其是在黑人历史月期间。
'Indefensible': Black Trump allies grapple with fallout from racist video of Obamas
Several Black conservatives with ties to President Donald Trump’s administration issuedrare public rebukesafter avideo sharedon the president’s social media platform late Thursday night included a racist animation depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama with the bodies of apes.
The video was later deleted, and the White House said it had been posted in error by a staffer.
NAACPNational President Derrick Johnson said in a statement Friday that the video was "blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable."
But the episode, which unfolded during Black History Month, exposed fault lines within Trump-aligned Black conservatism, where some expressed deep disappointment that the video was shared at all, while others defended the president and framed the controversy as an unfortunate but human error.
Among the critics was the Black Conservative Federation, a Trump aligned group that has maintained close ties to the president and issued a rare critical statement.
"Depicting Black public figures in a dehumanizing manner, particularly imagery historically used to demean Black Americans, is unacceptable, offensive, and indefensible," the group said in a statement, before also expressing its continued backing for Trump's policies.
Trumptold reporters he didn't see the entire video before it was shared on his social media platform late Thursday night and suggested he won't apologize for it.
"I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of picture people don't like. I wouldn't like it either, but I didn't see it," Trump said. "I just, I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud."
At the end of the video, the Obamas’ faces appear abruptly on the bodies of apes without explanation with the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” playing over it, before the clip ends back on imagery tied to election conspiracy video footage. The video was shared on the president’s account at 11:44 p.m. ET Thursday, and the White House said around noon Friday that it had been taken down.
Asked if he would apologize, Trump said, "No, I didn't make a mistake. I mean ... I look at a lot of, thousands of, things, and I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine." Asked if he condemned the racist portion of the video, Trump said, "Of course I do."
The Obamas declined to comment when ABC News reached out to their representatives. The White House did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially dismissed the backlash, saying early Friday that the clip came from "an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King," and urged reporters to "stop the fake outrage."
Later Friday afternoon, a White House official told ABC News that a "staffer erroneously made the post."
Sen. Tim Scottfrom South Carolina, the longest serving Black senator in U.S. history and one of the most prominent Black conservatives in Washington, publicly criticized the post.
"Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House," Scott wrote on X. "The President should remove it."
Trump later told reporters he spoke with Scott by phone. During the call, Trump said he told Scott the video had been posted by a staffer by mistake and would be taken down, according to a source familiar with the conversation. The post was later removed.
The Black Conservative Federation said in its statement,"This content reflects a serious lapse in judgment by a staffer responsible for digital posting and should never have been created, approved, or shared." The group added, "It is precisely this kind of careless and lazy behavior that undermines credibility, distracts from substantive policy progress, and damages trust with Black Americans who expect better from those entrusted with public platforms."
While condemning the post, the group sought to separate the incident from Trump’s policy agenda and accomplishments from his first term, citing the White House's HBCU investment; the Opportunity Zones tax incentives for distressed communities, the First Step Act criminal justice reform; and affordability initiatives as examples of what it described as Trump's tangible benefits for Black communities.
Diante Johnson, the group’s founder and president, served on the Trump campaign’s Black Voices for Trump advisory board during the 2020 election. Trump headlined the group’s gala in February 2024.
Other Trump-aligned Black conservatives defended the president more forcefully. CJ Pearson, a prominent Black conservative influencer who previously worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign, said the post appeared to be a mistake.
"This particular clip was obviously posted in error and I'm glad to see that it has since been deleted," Pearson told ABC News. He added that the video did not change his view of Trump's record with Black voters.
"There is not a racist bone in President Trump's body and an accidentally posted video clip does not diminish the fact that this President has done more for the Black community than any other President in American history," he added.
Florida Republican Rep.ByronDonalds' team called the White House Friday about the post, an official with his gubernatorial campaign confirmed to ABC News.
"TeamByronDonaldscalled the White House and learned that a staffer had let POTUS down," the campaign official said in a statement.
Pierre Wilson, a senior Turning Point USA leader and founder of TPUSA RISE, said he would not have shared the video but believes the backlash has been overstated.
"I wouldn't have shared the video myself, but I also think the reaction to it is wildly overblown," Wilson said. "I know President Trump personally. He's not a racist. He's a man with a blunt sense of humor and an equal opportunity approach when it comes to satire and criticism."
For many Trump aligned Black conservatives, the episode underscored the complexity of supporting a president they credit with policy progress, while navigating moments that reignite racial tensions and raise questions about representation, messaging and trust, especially during Black History Month.
