US President Donald Trump said he did not watch the entire clip posted on his social network profile “Truth Social“, in which former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle are presented as monkeys, Reuters and the Associated Press reported.
Trump said he does not feel like a person, made a mistake and has no intention of apologizing.
On Thursday, the Republican president released a one-minute video reinforcing his false claims that his defeat in the 2020 election was the result of fraud. Dancing primates, apparently generated by artificial intelligence, have the heads of former Democratic President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle superimposed on them. The video was taken down about 12 hours later, and White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said the posting had caused "false outrage".
Today, the president said he had seen the beginning of the clip, which was about allegations of election fraud, and had passed it on to an unnamed official to post.
„Nobody knew what was at the end; "If they had seen it, they would have seen it and probably thought of taking it down," Trump said aboard Air Force One, Reuters reported.
The publication sparked widespread outrage and criticism from prominent public and political figures, including members of the Republican Party.
A spokesman for the Obama family declined to comment on the case.
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said earlier that the clip was from an "Internet meme video depicting President Trump as the king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from "The Lion King." The clip is accompanied by music from the film.
The publication appeared in the first week of the month that celebrates the achievements, cultural heritage and contributions of black people (Black History Month) and days after Trump cited in his proclamation "the contribution of black Americans to the greatness of our nation" and "American principles of freedom, justice and equality", the Associated Press notes.
The White House's explanation for the publication of the racist video raises questions about control over Trump's social media accounts, which he uses to impose import tariffs, threaten military action, make other announcements and threaten his political rivals, the AP notes. The president often signs his name or initials on political posts. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how posts are vetted and when the public can know when Trump himself has posted something, the AP reported. Responsibility for posting the clip was passed to a White House official, who was not named, the agency said. Pastor Mark Burns, who is black and a prominent Trump supporter, said in a statement that he spoke directly with the president and recommended that he fire the official. Democratic Representative Yvette Clark told the AP that "if there wasn't such a toxic and racist climate in the White House, we wouldn't be witnessing this kind of behavior, no matter who it's coming from." Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who is white, but represents the state with the highest percentage of black residents, called the video "totally unacceptable" and added that the president should apologize.
"Donald Trump's video is blatantly racist, disgusting and completely despicable", said Derrick Johnson, president of the civil rights group NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). "Voters are watching and they will remember this at the ballot box", he predicted, quoted by Reuters.