Hakeem finally found his red line

Backstory (earlier today)
 

Yeah, bullshit.

Sad, but true.

Trump has removed a racist video he posted to social media late Thursday night that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

[...]

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to NBC News' request for comment Friday morning with a statement: “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from 'The Lion King.' Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."

[...]

While the White House initially defended the video, it was met with swift backlash — including from Republicans, who said it was "unacceptable" and "racist" and asked Trump to take it down and apologize. It was removed shortly before noon on Friday.

[...]

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the upper chamber, sharply denounced the president on X, writing, "Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it."

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., wrote, "Even if this was a 'Lion King' meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this. The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who faces a competitive re-election race, also criticized Trump. "The President’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered," he wrote on X.

[...]

Even after the post was removed, several GOP lawmakers continued to weigh in and call for an apology. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, called the images "offensive, heart breaking, and unacceptable," while Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said the post was "a grave failure of judgment and is absolutely unacceptable from anyone — most especially from the President of the United States."

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, meanwhile, noted the time it took to remove the "blatantly racist and inexcusable" post. "It should never have been posted or left published for so long," he wrote on X.

  NBC

Yes, but he didn't apologize. He blamed it on an unnamed staffer.

The roughly minute-long video focused on false election fraud claims about the 2020 presidential election, but at the end it suddenly flashed to a clip of the Obamas' faces superimposed on the heads of cartoon apes as the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens played in the background.

The imagery, which evokes long-standing racist tropes against Black people, comes during Black History Month, which honors the accomplishments and contributions of Black Americans.

[...]

In an exclusive interview this week "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Llamas asked Trump about election conspiracy theories he has promoted on social media. Trump said he doesn't believe all of them.

“Do you believe that stuff?” Llamas asked.

“No, no. No. No. … I sometimes will… retruth” those claims, Trump replied.

Inciting his base with bullshit he doesn't even believe. Such a vile, depraved man.

UPDATE 02/07/2026:

UPDATE 02/07/2026:

He says he posted it, but he didn't see the whole thing.  Still didn't apologize.