Barack Obama Calls Out Trump’s Racist AI Video as a “Clown Show”

Barack Obama is speaking up about the growing lack of “shame” in the political world after Donald Trump’s Truth Social account shared a racist AI-generated video.

The clip, which depicted the former President and Michelle Obama as apes, sparked immediate outrage, but Obama chose to focus on the disconnect between social media antics and real-world values. During a recent appearance on Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast, Obama opened his thoughts by calmly stating that it’s “important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling.”

The former President pointed out that while these stunts get clicks, they don’t reflect the character of the average citizen. “You know, it is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction. But, you know, as I’m traveling around the country, as you’re traveling around the country, you meet people. They still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness. And there’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television,” he said. Obama noted that the standards for public behavior have shifted drastically over the years. “And what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum. And a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? So that’s been lost.”

The fallout from the February 6 post forced the administration into a series of conflicting explanations. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at first tried to defend the Feb. 6 post as an “internet meme” and urged the press to “report on something today that actually matters to the American public.” However, the backlash from both sides of the political spectrum was too great, and the video was taken down after nearly 12 hours. Despite the removal, the damage to the narrative of “professionalism” within the camp was already done.

Attempting to distance Trump from the controversy, the White House attempted to shift the blame to an unnamed staff member who “erroneously” shared it on his account.

The president seemed to contradict that claim hours later, telling the Associated Press that he “didn’t make a mistake” and, instead, passed along the video for an aide to post. Trump’s own words suggest he was aware of the content, even if he didn’t watch it in its entirety. “I liked the beginning. I saw it and just passed it on, and I guess probably nobody reviewed the end of it,” Trump said.

Barack Obama responds over AI video depicting him and Michelle as monkeys.

“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and television and what is true- there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this.” pic.twitter.com/4nxC9qW6xd

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) February 15, 2026