California Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking the fight to President Donald Trump, accusing the latter of “disgusting behavior” following a social media post depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys.
Trump shared the AI-generated clip on Truth Social on Thursday night and immediately drew intense blowback. The short clip appears near the end of a minute-long video about technology that Trump believes helped Joe Biden win the 2020 election.
Newsom, who has long had a contentious relationship with Trump, wasted no time condemning the controversial post.
“Every single Republican must denounce this,” Newsom wrote. “Now.” Newsom’s post had more than 1.5 million views and roughly 52,000 likes as of publication.
Disgusting behavior by the President.
Every single Republican must denounce this. Now. https://t.co/X09h1mcj74
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) February 6, 2026
Trump’s original Truth Social post remained live as of Friday morning and had more than 1,100 reposts and nearly 3,700 likes.
Neither Barack nor Michelle Obama had publicly addressed the video as of publication. Trump also had not issued any follow-up comments.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
The post continued drawing loud and widespread outrage on social media, particularly on X. Users spent Friday morning calling for Trump’s resignation or for the government to invoke the 25th Amendment, which would remove Trump from office for medical reasons. Mental health experts and medical professionals have continued claiming that Trump, who turns 80 on June 14, might have dementia. However, there have been no credible reports regarding Trump’s cognitive health.
Trump cannot continue in office
And news media cannot continue to ignore his total mental and moral incapacity https://t.co/mwwSilM5fN
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 6, 2026
“Trump cannot continue in office,” former CNN and ESPN host Keith Olbermann wrote on X. “And news media cannot continue to ignore his total mental and moral incapacity.”
The poll comes amid ongoing anti–United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests nationwide and broader economic concerns. A new PBS News/NPR/Marist Poll released Thursday shows that 39% of Americans approve of Trump’s performance, slightly up from the 38% he received in January. Another 56% disapprove of Trump’s performance, with 51% saying they strongly disapprove.
According to the survey, six in 10 Americans — along with 91% of Democrats and 66% of independent voters — disapprove of the job ICE is doing. ICE began Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota in December, and the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that 5,000 additional criminal illegal aliens have been added to the department’s public database.
Other Reactions to Donald Trump’s Viral Barack and Michelle Obama Post
Trump’s post garnered no shortage of viral reactions on Friday. Here are some of the more noteworthy responses.
This is overt racism. Full stop. There’s no ‘misinterpretation’ and no excuse. This is who he is, who he’s always been, and why he should never be anywhere near power again. And there’s a reason the tapes from The Apprentice have never been released. https://t.co/pBwZi5Yjaj
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) February 6, 2026
TikTok content creator Harry Sisson called the video “incredibly racist and disgusting,” adding that it was “beneath the office of the presidency, like everything he does.
“This is overt racism,” Adam Parkhomenko, a former Hillary Clinton staffer, wrote on X. “Full stop. There’s no ‘misinterpretation’ and no excuse. This is who he is, who he’s always been, and why he should never be anywhere near power again.”
Former NFL wide receiver and two-time Super Bowl champion Torrey Smith commented, “People have zero standards for him as a person or leader. It’s embarrassing and disappointing. Choosing to side with him is agreeing with him. My personal line is drawn with people, and I move accordingly.”
