Former US President Barack Obama indirectly addressed a racist video posted on President Donald Trump’s social media, telling a podcast host that the “shame” and “decorum” that once guided public officials is now lost.
The offensive video included a clip depicting Obama and his wife Michelle as apes, which drew widespread criticism from Democrats and Republicans.
The White House initially defended the video, calling backlash “fake outrage”. The post was later blamed on a staff member and deleted.
Obama spoke to liberal podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, who asked the first black US president about the tone of political discourse. Cohen cited Trump’s post among several recent controversies.
The clip – set to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight – was included at the end of a video Trump’s Truth Social account shared containing unfounded claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election.
The post led to outrage from politicians, including from senior members of Trump’s Republican party.
Senator Tim Scott – the only black Republican senator – described it as “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House”.
The clip recalls racist caricatures comparing black people to monkeys, and appears to have been taken from an X post shared by conservative meme creator Xerias in October.
Trump has told reporters that he “didn’t see” the part of the video that showed the Obamas.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” he told reporters when asked whether he planned to apologise.
The 47-minute podcast featuring Obama was released on Saturday. The episode begins with the host asking him to comment on US “discourse”, which he says “has devolved to a level of cruelty that we haven’t seen before”.
Cohen notes claims by the White House that the “victims” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are “domestic terrorists”, and adds “just days ago, Donald Trump put a picture of you, your face, on an ape’s body”.
Obama responds by saying: “It’s important to recognise that the majority of the American people find this behaviour deeply troubling.
“It is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction.”
But Obama said that while travelling around the US, he found himself meeting people who “still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness”.
“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television,” he continued.
“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.”
He did not mention Trump by name in his response.
During the interview, Obama spoke about a range of issues. He praised protesters who have peacefully organised against immigration operations, discussed electoral redistricting and talked about his presidential library, which is due to open in Chicago next year.
By BBC News
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