Trump sparks backlash for sharing AI video mocking the Obamas as apes

Donald Trump shared a racist, AI-generated video on his Truth Social account late Thursday that depicts former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

The 62-second clip focuses primarily on conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 election. In its final seconds, the video shows the Obamas' heads superimposed onto the bodies of apes dancing and smiling in a jungle.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the post, characterizing it as an "online meme" that portrays Trump as the "King of the Jungle" and Democrats as characters from "The Lion King." The original video also depicts Joe Biden as a baboon and Hillary Clinton as a warthog.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office condemned the post, calling it "disgusting behavior by the President." Newsom’s office further urged "all Republicans" to denounce the imagery.

Donald Trump’s recent circulation of a video featuring incendiary racial tropes—specifically comparing Black individuals to primates—is no mere social media lapse. It is a calculated political maneuver. By leveraging shock tactics, the former president aims to provoke his opposition while simultaneously solidifying his standing among a core electoral base that prioritizes anti-establishment defiance.

The White House’s defense of the post, which dismissed the footage as a "meme" and accused critics of "manufactured outrage," follows a well-worn rhetorical playbook. This strategy is designed to downplay the gravity of the incident, reframing a racist trope as a skirmish in the broader culture war over humor and political correctness. Such framing effectively targets voters who feel marginalized by mainstream media narratives, turning a question of basic decency into a debate over elite overreach.

The incident also signals a troubling milestone in the normalization of generative AI within political discourse. The use of artificial intelligence to synthesize divisive content and personal attacks represents a significant escalation in digital campaigning. This sets a precarious precedent for future election cycles, where the line between organic expression and algorithmic disinformation becomes increasingly blurred.

Furthermore, the move places Republican leadership in a familiar tactical bind. GOP officials are forced to choose between condemning the rhetoric and risking the ire of the party’s primary voters, or remaining silent and facing accusations of complicity. This dynamic is a hallmark of Trump’s broader strategy: using orchestrated chaos to dominate the news cycle and enforce party discipline through a "loyalty test" of silence.

While this event has no direct bearing on Vietnamese-American business interests or immigration procedures—from the daily operations of our phở restaurants and the nail salon industry to the processing of F2B, H-1B, TPS, and EB-5 visas—it serves as a stark reflection of the deep political and racial polarization currently gripping the United States. For a community with perspectives as diverse as ours, such incidents often exacerbate internal divisions. From the heart of Little Saigon to the family dinner table, individuals are increasingly forced to grapple with sensitive debates surrounding the boundaries of political rhetoric and the complexities of race in American society.