Republicans condemn Trump’s racist video portraying the Obamas as apes

Washington — Republican lawmakers condemned President Trump on Friday for sharing a video that portrayed former President Barack Obama and former first woman Michelle Obama as apes. 

The criticism continued even after the White Home eliminated the video after the preliminary backlash. 

A number of GOP lawmakers publicly urged the president to take away it, together with Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who’s the one Black Republican within the Senate. 

“Praying it was faux as a result of it is probably the most racist factor I’ve seen out of this White Home,” wrote Scott, who leads Senate Republicans’ marketing campaign arm. “The President ought to take away it.” 

White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the video, which amplified false claims concerning the 2020 presidential election. Leavitt mentioned the footage that confirmed the Obamas’ heads edited onto the our bodies of apes was a part of an “web meme video” that portrayed Mr. Trump as “King of the Jungle” and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.  

Chatting with reporters aboard Air Power One Friday evening, Mr. Trump mentioned that he “simply seemed on the first half” of the video, however not the half that included the previous president and former first woman.

“I assume through the finish of it, there was some sort of an image that individuals don’t love,” Mr. Trump mentioned. “I would not prefer it both, however I did not see it.”   

Sen. Pete Ricketts, a Nebraska Republican, mentioned: “Even when this was a Lion King meme, an affordable particular person sees the racist context to this. The White Home ought to do what anybody does after they make a mistake: take away this and apologize.” 

GOP Rep. Mike Lawler of New York referred to as the publish “mistaken and extremely offensive.” Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, mentioned it was “completely unacceptable.” Each mentioned Mr. Trump ought to apologize. 

A number of shared their condemnation after the publish — which was shared by Mr. Trump on Thursday evening — was eliminated Friday afternoon. A White Home official mentioned a staffer “erroneously made the publish.” 

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine mentioned it was “appalling.” Sen. Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, mentioned he was glad the White Home eliminated the “offensive” publish. 

Sen. Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican, mentioned the video “ought to have by no means been posted to start with, and isn’t who we’re as a nation.” Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, wrote that the publish was “racist and offensive and never who we’re as a nation.” Sen. Invoice Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, mentioned it “despatched the mistaken message regardless of the way it could have been initially supposed.” 

Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah shared an analogous sentiment as his colleagues, referring to the publish as “blatantly racist and inexcusable.” 

“It ought to by no means have been posted or left printed for therefore lengthy,” Curtis mentioned. 

GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio additionally weighed in: “I don’t really feel the necessity to answer each inflammatory assertion made by the White Home. Nonetheless, the discharge of racist pictures of former President Barack and First Girl Michelle Obama is offensive, coronary heart breaking, and unacceptable. President Trump ought to apologize.” 

GOP Rep. John James of Michigan, who’s Black, defended the president as “not racist,” however mentioned he was “shocked and appalled” by the publish. 

“I am glad to see that trash has been taken down,” he mentioned. 

Rep. Burgess Owens, a Utah Republican, added to the refrain on Friday afternoon, saying “all of us have a accountability to make use of care and logic with the content material we produce and distribute.” 

“The imagery was wildly offensive and inappropriate, and as a Black man, I discover it particularly troubling,” he mentioned. “It by no means ought to have been shared and even created, and I am glad it has been taken down.”

GOP Rep. French Hill of Arkansas additionally mentioned he was glad the publish was eliminated, explaining that “racism and dehumanizing rhetoric don’t have any place in our nation. Each American deserves to be handled with dignity and respect.”