Us President Donald Trump should have known better than to post a racist video of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, last week. Just when the Internet thought it couldn’t get more problematic than this, came the staffer’s excuse from the White House, and now, Trump has offered a bizarre excuse for the same.
Trump, during a media interaction, went on to claim that it was a scene from the Disney film The Lion King. Last week, he posted a clip of the Obamas as apes in a Truth Social video that he soon deleted.
The excuse came after a reporter asked, “Mr. President, have you fired or disciplined that staffer who posted the video from your account that included the Obamas?” Donald Trump replied without much ado, “No, I haven’t. That was a video on, as you know, voter fraud and fairly long video, and they had a little piece and had to do with the Lion King.”
Reporter: Have you fired or disciplined the staffer that posted that video on the Obamas?
Trump: No. That was a video on voter fraud. It had to do with The Lion King. It was a very strong piece on voter fraud. pic.twitter.com/MiRLeAkDAz
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 12, 2026
Trump added, “It’s been very, well, it’s been shown all over the place long before that was posted, but that was a very strong, and I’m sure you saw it, a very strong piece on voter fraud. And the piece that you’re talking about was all over the place. Many times, I believe, for years.”
The Internet was quick to school Trump and how. “The lack of accountability is astonishing,” a netizen pointed out in the comments section. “He is defending the video. He thinks it was a good video. This re-opens the insult and erases all excuses that were made,” added another.
“Why would a racist fire someone for posting something racist. He agrees with them,” a furious netizen added. Nobody on the Internet seemed convinced by Trump’s staffer theory, and these comments are proof: “He can’t fire them because they don’t exist. He posted it himself,” read one. “Ask him the staffer’s name,” a second one added.
“There’s no staffer or anybody. He’s the one who posted that video; if anyone needs firing, it should be him,” an X user wrote. “First the WH defended it, then blamed a staffer, now Trump says he didn’t see it but won’t apologize or discipline anyone,” another one wrote, mapping the timeline of events as they occurred. “If there was nothing wrong with it, they wouldn’t have deleted it and said that the staffer let the president down,” a netizen questioned in the comments section.
Taking a leaf from Trump’s bizarre Lion King excuse, many netizens dropped comments like “The liar king” and “I think he meant Liar King.” A third one added, “I think he meant lying king.” A curious X user asked, “Is Disney ok with Trump using The Lion King in such a manner?”
A quick look at some more comments on the post: “Does he not understand the words that are coming out of his mouth?” a netizen pressed. “How many different explanations is that?” another one flagged. Another Internet user alleged, “He’s the lying king and also the staffer.”
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance defended Donald Trump for the racist video. He was asked if his boss should apologize for the same. “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?” a reporter asked Vance.
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
The Vice President responded, “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.”
JD Vance went on to justify it, saying that “It’s not a real controversy. We have many more real problems to focus on.” 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.”
