Washington, DC – US President Donald Trump refused to apologize for a video posted to his Truth Social account before it was later deleted. The video featured a racially charged image of former US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama. During a press conference held Friday evening aboard Air Force One, journalists questioned Trump about the video. He asserted that he is “the least racist president” Americans have had in a long time. He also blamed his staff for posting the video, according to the British newspaper The Independent.
Trump said he only saw the first part of the video, which he claimed was about election fraud. He added, “At the end, there was something people didn’t like, and I didn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it.” He explained that one of his staff members later watched the entire video and decided to delete it. According to reports, the post remained visible on Trump’s TruthSocial account for nearly 12 hours on Friday.
When asked about calls from Republican members for an apology, Trump refused to take responsibility. He said, “No, I didn’t do anything wrong. I only saw the beginning, and everything was fine.” In contrast, a number of Republicans criticized the video. Senator Tim Scott, an African American, wrote in a post on the X platform before the video was removed, “This is the most racist act I have ever seen from this White House. The president should delete it.” Republican Senator Roger Wicker also called on Trump to delete the video and issue a public apology.
