An investigative reporter has linked White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to an anonymous “staffer” whom the Trump administration blamed for sharing a racist video that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as primates. This came after a prominent Trump-aligned pastor urged President Donald Trump to fire the person responsible.
Trump posted the video on his Truth Social account late on February 5. The clip included a brief segment at the end showing the former president and first lady’s faces superimposed onto primates. This drew criticism from Democrats, civil rights leaders, and several Republicans.
The White House initially defended the post as a meme, but later removed it and stated that it had been published “erroneously” by a staffer. Trump later said he had not watched the full video before it was shared and declined to apologize, according to Reuters and the Associated Press.
Mark Burns, a Black pastor and Trump supporter associated with “Pastors for Trump,” said he spoke with Trump about the situation. Burns pressed for immediate action. In a statement he posted online, Burns claimed Trump told him that a staffer made the post, not the president. Burns then recommended that the staffer “should be fired immediately” and that Trump should publicly condemn the post.
Trump and White House officials have not publicly identified the staffer. Reuters reported that only a limited number of senior aides have direct access to Trump’s social media account. The AP noted that the administration’s explanation changed throughout the day, eventually attributing the post to staff error.
YEARS ago, I obtained documents via #FOIA from the Mueller investigation that revealed Stephen Miller sometimes wrote Trump’s tweets https://t.co/l6CEYHlCwD pic.twitter.com/3xlTxuYdHs
— Jason Leopold (@JasonLeopold) February 6, 2026
In the midst of the blame shifting to an unnamed aide, investigative reporter Jason Leopold wrote on X that past records show Miller occasionally drafted social media posts for Trump. Leopold mentioned that he previously obtained documents through the Freedom of Information Act from the Mueller investigation, which described a workflow where Miller drafted multiple potential tweets. Trump would select from these, and then White House aide Dan Scavino would send the chosen messages.
Leopold did not claim to have direct evidence linking Miller to the specific Truth Social video. However, he argued that the previous documentation makes it likely that Miller could have been involved in drafting or shaping social media content attributed to Trump.
The renewed scrutiny over who manages Trump’s social media presence followed sharp criticism from some Republicans, including Sen. Tim Scott. He called the post “the most racist thing” he had seen from the White House and urged its removal. The AP reported that several GOP lawmakers called on Trump to apologize or take steps to prevent similar incidents, while some of Trump’s allies attacked those critics.
The controversy also revealed conflicting accounts from Trump’s team about how the video ended up on the president’s account. Reuters reported that the White House first tried to dismiss the uproar, then claimed a staffer posted it by mistake, while Trump stated he did not see the offensive ending before it was published. The AP reported the video remained online for hours before it was taken down.
Neither the White House nor Miller has publicly responded to Leopold’s suggestion. The White House has also not clarified whether any staff discipline took place following Burns’ call for a firing.
This incident occurs while Miller remains one of Trump’s most prominent policy aides, particularly concerning immigration, amidst ongoing questions about internal controls for posts on Trump’s social media platforms.
