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Donald Trump condemns video depicting Obamas as apes but refuses to apologise: ‘I didn’t make a mistake’
President Donald Trump shared a video portraying the Obamas as apes on Truth Social. It was deleted after massive backlash.
US President Donald Trump has addressed the Truth Social video controversy, sharing that he ‘of course’ condemns the video, which is being labelled as racist by many. However, the US leader also clarified that he was not going to apologise for the now-deleted video that depicts Obamas as apes. He said he didn’t watch the clip to the end, and his staffer made a mistake by posting it on social media.
The president offered his explanation while on Air Force One. He insisted that he only saw the first part of the video and didn’t see the ending, which depicts former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle.
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“I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine,” he said, reported CNN. Referring to the first part of the video which had claims about fraud in voting machines, he continued, “It was a very strong post in terms of voter fraud.”
Trump then explained, “Nobody knew that that was in the end. If they would have looked, they would have seen it, and probably they would have had the sense to take it down,” adding, “Somebody slipped and missed a very small part.”
When asked if he would apologise for the video, which was posted on his Truth Social profile and remained online for nearly 12 hours, he refused. “No,” he said. “I didn’t make a mistake.”
When asked if he condemns the video, he said, “Of course I do.” He later added, “I am, by the way, the least racist president you’ve had in a long time.”
The White House initially rejected "fake outrage" over the video. However, it was later labelled as an error by a staff member. "A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down," a White House official told AFP.
