Trump post about voting dominion machine with Obama monkey
Executive summary
A video promoting debunked claims about Dominion Voting Systems that included a one‑second clip depicting Barack and Michelle Obama with their faces superimposed on apes was reposted to President Trump’s Truth Social account, quickly prompted bipartisan outrage, and was removed after a White House defense and a partial walk‑back; Trump said he had directed aides to post the video but claimed he had not seen the offensive portion and refused to apologize [1] [2] [3]. The clip appears to have originated with a conservative meme creator and was packaged into a 62‑second montage repeating false 2020 election conspiracy theories, illustrating both the persistence of disinformation about Dominion and the increasing use of AI imagery in political messaging [2] [4] [5].
1. What was posted: a one‑minute election conspiracy clip that included racist imagery
The Truth Social post was a roughly 62‑second video that primarily recycled false allegations that Dominion Voting Systems helped steal the 2020 election, and near the end included a brief animated sequence where the Obamas’ faces are placed on ape bodies set to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” a montage that many outlets and lawmakers called blatantly racist [6] [4] [7].
2. Origins and production: traced to right‑wing meme accounts and AI editing
Reporting indicates the offensive Obama clip was taken from an X post by a conservative meme creator (identified in some coverage as Xerias) and bore watermarks linking it to entities like Patriot News Outlet, with other outlets noting it fits a pattern of hyper‑realistic AI‑generated political visuals that have circulated on social platforms [2] [1] [8].
3. The Dominion claims: long‑debunked and litigated, not established facts
The longer video’s central assertions about Dominion manipulating vote counts echo claims that have been repeatedly disproven and were the subject of successful civil legal actions against media outlets that amplified them, meaning the montage’s core premise lacks credible substantiation even as it continues to be circulated [9] [2] [6].
4. Immediate fallout: bipartisan condemnation and deletion
Outrage was swift and broad—Democrats denounced the post as “vile” and “disgusting,” several Republicans publicly criticized it, and news organizations reported the clip was deleted from Trump’s account after the backlash while the White House initially defended the share as an internet meme or blamed a staffer before acknowledging removal [9] [10] [5].
5. Trump’s account of events and refusal to apologize
President Trump told reporters he had directed aides to repost the video, said he only watched the beginning which focused on voter fraud, insisted he did not see the offensive final second, and declined to apologize—statements accompanied by the White House at times characterizing the furor as “fake outrage” or an error by staff [3] [2] [5].
6. Political and informational implications: normalization of AI stunts and erosion of norms
Analysts and outlets warn the episode underscores two converging risks: the durability of a disproven election narrative that continues to mobilize audiences, and the casual use of AI‑altered imagery by high‑level political actors that normalizes racially charged content and accelerates misinformation’s spread, a dynamic documented in coverage showing similar past posts by Trump and allies [8] [11] [7].
7. Competing narratives and open questions left by reporting
Supporters who emphasize the video’s election‑integrity message and administration claims of an aide mistake provide a counter‑frame to critics who see deliberate racism and bad faith amplification; reporting identifies the likely origin accounts and watermarks but leaves unresolved specifics about who in the campaign approved the repost, and whether platform moderation policies were applied consistently [2] [1] [5].