Following President Donald Trump sharing a video depicting former U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys, he faced criticism from senior members of his own party and the opposition.

The video shared on Trump’s “Truth Social” platform, which many described as clearly racial discrimination or a “racist” act, was deleted before Friday afternoon as the controversy intensified. Regarding this, Tim Scott, the only Black Republican member in the U.S. Senate, said this was the most racist act seen from the White House to date, and that he initially thought it was a fake video. Similarly, Republican Party member Mike Lawler described it as an extremely childish act, whether done deliberately or by mistake.

According to the opposition Democrats, this is an act similar to the racial depictions used against Black people in America during cruel and harsh times. They said this is a disgraceful act to the office of the presidency, carried out as part of a series of racially degrading actions from Trump.

The White House initially defended this by saying it was an internet meme made in connection with “The Lion King” film and that the media was overreacting. However, as criticism increased, they later said the post was shared by staff by mistake, and that President Trump had spoken with people like Senator Tim Scott regarding this matter.

Trump, who has previously spread false stories about Obama’s birth, used images of the Obama couple in this video from a documentary-style clip containing false stories related to the 2020 election. According to political observers, sharing such AI-generated videos is a tactic Trump employs to divert people’s attention from matters damaging to Trump, such as the Jeffrey Epstein case.