And the White House is responding to criticism after President Trump posted a video that includes a racist meme depicting former President Obama and his wife Michelle as apes. Now, the Senate's only black Republican senator is responding and calling out the White House. ABC's Jay O'Brien's here with more on that.
Hi, Jay. What's the latest? >> Yeah, Diane.
Just moments ago, the video was deleted from President Trump's account, and it comes after a growing chorus of Republican lawmakers called on the White House to take the racist image down, including, as you say, Senator Tim Scott, who posted the image, in addition to his post. ABC is not showing the image, but we are showing you the post. And it says, quote, "Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House.
The president should remove it. " The racist image comes at the end of a minute-long video the president posted on his social media platform. The first 59 seconds described debunk election exper conspiracy theories from 2020.
And at the end, the video suddenly cuts to an animated meme showing the Obama's faces on the bodies of apes. The NAACP is out with a statement saying in part, quote, "Donald Trump's video is blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable. " End quote.
that again from the NAACP. Images of black people as apes have been used throughout American history to dehumanize them. Slave traders and segregationists use these types of images to depict black people as inferior and at times it's led to violence.
Initially, White House press secretary Caroline Levit said in a statement, quote, "This is from an internet meme depicting President Trump as the king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public. " End quote.
But again, since that statement, the video now appears to have been deleted and the White House is now saying from an anonymous staffer, quote, that they erroneously made the post. The video that Levit described in that initial statement I just played for you was originally shared on Facebook last October by the Harden County Republican Party of Kentucky. The chairman of that group issued an apology at the time and deleted the original post after backlash.
And again, a number of Republican lawmakers are reacting to this. Another is Republican Congressman Mike Lawler. He's posting, quote, "The president's post is wrong and incredibly offensive, whether intentional or a mistake, and it should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.
The Obamas have not commented at on the video at this point. " Diane. >> All right, Jay O'Brien.
Thank you.
