US President Donald Trump refused to apologise Friday after posting after which deleting a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first girl Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle, insisting he had not seen the offensive content material and blaming a staffer for the error.The video was posted late Thursday evening and remained on-line for practically 12 hours earlier than it was eliminated amid bipartisan outrage, together with criticism from shut Trump allies. The White Home initially defended the submit and dismissed the backlash as “faux outrage,” however later mentioned a staffer had posted the video in error.
Talking to reporters aboard Air Drive One on Friday night, Trump acknowledged that he had watched part of the video earlier than it was posted. He mentioned it was taken down “as quickly as we discovered about it.”“I appeared firstly of it. It was positive,” Trump mentioned, referring to the opening portion of the video that contained debunked claims about fraud in voting machines.“It was a really robust submit by way of voter fraud,” he continued, as quoted by CNN. “No person knew that that was in the long run. If they might have appeared, they might have seen it, and possibly they might have had the sense to take it down.”Trump mentioned he handed the video alongside to a staffer after watching the start and mentioned that particular person ought to have reviewed it absolutely earlier than posting it. “Any person slipped and missed a really small half,” he mentioned.When requested instantly whether or not he would apologise for the submit, Trump declined.“No,” he mentioned. “I didn’t make a mistake.”The White Home’s assertion got here after intense backlash, together with from GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the one Black Republican within the Senate, who referred to as the video racist and urged Trump to take away it.“Praying it was faux as a result of it’s probably the most racist factor I’ve seen out of this White Home. The President ought to take away it,” Scott wrote on X.One White Home adviser, as quoted by CNN, mentioned, “The president was not conscious of that video, and was very let down by the staffer who put it out.” One other ally sought to put blame on a particular aide.Close to the top of the brief video, the Obamas briefly seem with their faces superimposed onto the our bodies of apes because it promotes false claims that voting machines helped steal the 2020 election. For about one second, the tune “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” performs within the background.Former vice chairman Kamala Harris criticised the White Home’s clarification, writing on X, “Nobody believes this cowl up from the White Home, particularly since they initially defended the submit. We’re all clear-eyed about who Donald Trump is and what he believes.”The workplace of California governer Gavin Newsom additionally condemned the video. “Disgusting conduct by the President. Each single Republican should denounce this. Now,” it mentioned in a submit on X.
