A Truth Social post shared by US President Donald Trump last week quickly snowballed into a controversy. The post in question showcased former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as apes. Trump soon deleted the post. However, no apology followed. Now, Vice President JD Vance has finally broken his silence on the ongoing controversy.
“Sir, some Republicans are still calling for the President to apologize, including that video of the Obamas, showing them as monkeys. I am wondering, do you think you should apologize, and what was your reaction to that video?” the reporter asked JD Vance ahead of his trip to Azerbaijan.
JD Vance defended Trump and dismissed the backlash as “not a real controversy.” Vance told the reporter, “Yeah, it was one of those things where either because the time zone changed or because we were so busy, the controversy had started and died out by the time I even paid attention to it.”
Vice President JD Vance’s pathetic defense of President Trump’s racist Obama video. pic.twitter.com/jHinr9ai71
— Leigh Kimmins McManus (@LeighMcManus1) February 11, 2026
He continued, “The President said that a staffer posted the video. He hadn’t even watched the whole thing. When he watched the whole thing, he took it down. It’s not a real controversy. We have many more real problems to focus on.”
When asked if Trump should apologize for the video that was labelled racist and vile, Vance said, “Should he apologize for posting a video and then taking it down? No, I don’t think so. I think people post things on social media, and if you post something and you don’t like it, you can just take it down, and that’s what he did.”
As of now, Donald Trump has not apologized for the video that has garnered massive backlash. The AI-generated video showcased the Obamas as apes and was shared by Trump on his official Truth Social account, and was later deleted.
Meanwhile, Trump, during an interaction with a reporter, had this to say about the controversial post, “I’ve done great with the Black voters, and if they’re great to me, I’m great to them. Black voters have been great to me. I’ve been great to them, and I am, by the way, the least racist president you’ve had in a long time as far as I’m concerned.”
Trump on the racist Obama post:
A staffer posted, I knew, it was all about, if you take a look at it and see the whole thing, it was a small section at the end…I liked the beginning, I saw it and passed it on, but probably nobody reviewed the end of it. Somebody slipped and… pic.twitter.com/XIGq4xkOGm
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) February 7, 2026
Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, in a recent episode this week, slammed Trump for the distasteful video and he said, “At first the White House blamed the staffer, but then they changed the story, probably when they realized this staffer was the president, and then he said he gave the okay to post it but didn’t post it himself but didn’t watch it – whatever the case, but don’t worry, rest assured there will be no accountability whatsoever,” Kimmel said.
Jimmy Kimmel added on his show, “I’m not racist, I’m just incompetent and irresponsible, come on.” He countered Trump’s defense and said, “The images of the apes’ bodies is by the way, the thumbnail to the video; it’s not the first thing you see before you watch the clip.”
