Did Trump post a meme of the obamas as apes
Executive summary
Donald Trump’s verified Truth Social account posted a roughly one‑minute video that, in its final seconds, flashes an AI‑generated clip showing Barack and Michelle Obama with their faces superimposed on apes while “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays, a segment widely described as racist and lasting roughly one to two seconds [1] [2] [3]. Reporting across multiple outlets documents the clip’s watermark linking it to an X account (@XERIAS_X) and notes it was embedded in a longer, false‑claim video about the 2020 election, while at least one outlet says it is unclear whether the president personally added or was aware of the inserted Obama imagery [1] [2] [4].
1. What was posted and how it appeared
The item shared on Truth Social was principally an election‑themed video that repeats debunked claims about Dominion and 2020 voting anomalies, and at about the 59‑ to 60‑second mark the Obamas’ faces appear superimposed on ape bodies for about one to two seconds to the tune of The Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” a blink‑and‑you‑miss‑it edit that multiple outlets describe as AI‑generated [4] [2] [5].
2. Attribution and technical traces
News outlets noted the short segment carries a watermark attributing it to an X account with the handle @XERIAS_X, an account described in reporting as pro‑Trump and previously linked to other AI clips shared by the president’s accounts, suggesting the image originated outside Truth Social before being embedded in the posted video [1] [2].
3. Reactions and political context
The post drew immediate bipartisan public attention and condemnation from Democrats and public figures, including the press office of California Governor Gavin Newsom calling the behavior “disgusting,” and widespread criticism on social platforms labelling the imagery racist and dehumanising [6] [3]. Media outlets framed the clip as tapping into a long‑standing racist trope that compares Black people to apes, noting the historical weight and offensiveness of that imagery [5] [7].
4. Questions of intent and responsibility
Reporting is explicit that it remains unclear whether Trump personally authored or was aware of the Obamas segment before it appeared on his Truth Social account; Deadline and other outlets state the possibility that the clip was inserted by an outside creator and later reposted by the president’s account [1] [8]. That uncertainty does not shield the post from criticism: outlets emphasise that regardless of intent, the president’s platform amplified the image to millions, a distinction reporters highlight between authorship and responsibility for dissemination [4] [8].
5. The broader pattern and significance
Coverage situates this incident within a pattern of the president sharing hyper‑realistic or fabricated AI content about Black political figures — previous posts have included AI depictions of Barack Obama being arrested and other manipulated clips — which reporters say underscores both the growing role of synthetic media in political messaging and the risks of dehumanising targets via quick, shareable edits [9] [10].
6. Bottom line assessment
Factually, the president’s Truth Social account posted a video that briefly depicted the Obamas as apes, using AI‑style imagery and a soundtrack cue, and the clip carried a watermark tracing to an X account [1] [2] [3]. Multiple outlets report uncertainty about whether Trump personally created or knowingly posted that segment, but they uniformly record that the post appeared on his account and provoked immediate condemnation for its racist content and for amplifying debunked election claims [1] [4] [6]. The available reporting therefore supports a clear conclusion about what was posted and about lingering questions over intent and provenance [1] [8].