Social media, video editing and artificial intelligence all collided on Friday to create a massive volcano of outrage from Democrats and many Republicans, and President Donald Trump found himself caught right in the middle of the fiery mess.
HERE’S HOW IT HAPPENED:
President Trump re-posted a video someone else had shared on social media about an investigation into voting machines in Michigan, which highlights disturbing discoveries made about the voting machines in relation to the 2020 election. Trump and many conservatives still have valid concerns about the 2020 election, so he reposted the video.
However, what Trump didn’t realize was that whoever created and edited the video clip had included a two-second blip from a separate AI parody video at the end of the clip.
The “Lion King” parody video features Trump as the lion of the jungle, and other Democrats as various animals in the jungle. It starts off with Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys, and continues with other Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Hakeem Jeffries, Gavin Newsom, AOC, Ill. Gov. Pritzker, Sen. Adam Schiff, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Whoopi Goldberg, and more, all featured as different animals.
The very end of the Michigan voter fraud video features just two seconds of the beginning of the parody video.
Below is the video Trump shared on his Truth Social page:
🇺🇸 Trump posted a video on Truth Social about election fraud, with the Obamas shown as monkeys at the end of the clip.#Trump #Obama #USA #OpaliteMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/X80bk0sqIq
— Faiz Afridi (@FaizAfridi398) February 6, 2026
Next, X user AFPost then posted a SCREENSHOT from the video Trump shared, of the very end of the video, where the Obamas are seen as monkeys in the jungle.
“President Trump posted a video featuring the Obamas as monkeys on Truth Social,” AF Post wrote accusingly, making it appear that this was the main context of what Trump posted. The AF Post provided no additional details, and did not reveal that Trump had actually posted a video about election fraud allegations.
The screenshot shared by the AF Post is what then caused major backlash against President Trump, from both sides of the political aisle.
President Trump posted a video featuring the Obamas as monkeys on Truth Social.
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/KpgBwvXPtD
— AF Post (@AFpost) February 6, 2026
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and other Republicans blasted Trump over the “racist” post, only seeing the screenshot that had been shared by AFPost. The White House later said an aide had made the post at Trump’s direction, and had failed to watch the entire video before posting.
The post was then deleted from the president’s Truth Social account.
Reporters asked President Trump about the video while he was traveling aboard Air Force One Friday night.
“I just looked at the first part. It was about voter fraud…2020 voter fraud…and I didn’t see the whole thing…then I gave it to [my] people. Generally, they’d look at the whole thing, but I guess somebody didn’t…We took it down as soon as we found out about it,” Trump explained.
WATCH:
.@POTUS: “I just looked at the first part. It was about voter fraud…2020 voter fraud…and I didn’t see the whole thing…then I gave it to [my] people. Generally, they’d look at the whole thing, but I guess somebody didn’t…We took it down as soon as we found out about it.” pic.twitter.com/jwl0QnH0EZ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 7, 2026
Trump also said he spoke to Sen. Tim Scott and explained the whole situation, and said, “He was great. Tim is a great guy. He understood that 100%.”
President Trump spoke with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) after the senator condemned a video Trump posted on Truth Social, calling it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”
“He was great. Tim is a great guy. He understood that 100%.” pic.twitter.com/1eb22HOMkz
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) February 7, 2026
ABC reporter Fritz Farrow prodded, “At the very least, do you condemn the racist parts of the video?”
“Of course I do, yeah,” Trump quickly responded.
“At the very least, do you condemn the racist parts of the video?”
@POTUS: “Of course I do. Yeah.”What a stupid question, @FritzFarrow. President Trump sees the great people of our country as one thing — AMERICANS. Stop trying to divide. https://t.co/z276tYx5Fo pic.twitter.com/DGp2BMXwam
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 7, 2026
Below is the AI Lion King parody video, which is the source from which the first two seconds was attached to the video President Trump shared. Trump did NOT post this actual video.
The parody video does not appear to carry a racist tone, but instead was mocking Democrats by portraying them as animals of the jungle and Trump as the Lion King. It features a very diverse group of men and women, representing multiple races and multiple religious backgrounds.
The original video was created by X user @Xerias_X, a talented AI meme creator, whose fanbase suddenly experienced a huge spike when everyone wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
🚨 WATCH: That “racist” clip everyone’s melting down over? It’s from an AI Lion King parody video that auto-scrolled on Trump’s feed.
Everyone’s an animal. Trump is the lion KING of the jungle
Dems are various animals. Obamas included. No targeted racismClassic Fake outrage pic.twitter.com/cyPPY4v3Us
— Alec Lace (@AlecLace) February 6, 2026
LESSON LEARNED: Never re-post someone else’s video that you haven’t watched in its entirety, from start to finish. It may include something you wish you hadn’t shared.
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