Donald Trump's racist attack on Obamas: Why monkey portrayals of Black folks are considered deeply offensive

US President Donald Trump on Thursday posted an election conspiracy video on his Truth Social platform that depicted former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as monkeys, drawing condemnation from prominent Democrats.Near the end of the one-minute-long video, the Obamas were shown with their faces on the bodies of monkeys for about one second. The song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" played in the background when the Obamas appeared.The video repeated false allegations that ballot-counting company Dominion Voting Systems helped steal the 2020 election from Trump.

How is that video offensive?

The association of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama with monkeys is offensive because it comes from a long history of dehumanisation, used to justify racism, slavery, and colonial violence. In history, comparing Black to animals—especially apes—was never neutral. Monkeys and apes were framed as sinful, lustful, irrational, or closer to evil. Over time, these ideas were projected onto groups seen as “inferior.” As European encountered Africa, racist thinkers falsely portrayed Africans as closer to animals on a supposed hierarchy of humanity. This was not based on science, but on prejudice designed to rationalise domination.

During centuries of slavery and colonial rule, depicting Black people as simian served a clear purpose: if a group could be seen as less than fully human, then exploiting, enslaving, or killing them could be portrayed as acceptable. These images appeared in pseudo-science, popular literature, cartoons, films like King Kong, and everyday language. They reinforced the stereotype of Black people as primitive, dangerous, and sexually threatening.

How Democrats reacted?

The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate and a prominent Trump critic, slammed the post. "Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now," Newsom's press office account posted on X.

Ben Rhodes, a former top national security advisor and close confidant to Barack Obama, also condemned the imagery. "Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a stain on our history," he wrote on X.

Obama is the only Black president in American history and backed Trump's opponent Kamala Harris on the campaign trail in the 2024 presidential election.