Donald Trump spoke with reporters for the first time since a racist meme depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes was posted to his Truth Social account late Thursday night. During a gaggle with reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday night, Trump did his best to stick to the script presented by his communications staff: the meme was posted by a staffer, he knew nothing about it, and it’s not really a big deal anyway because it’s a parody of The Lion King. Trump also declined multiple opportunities to apologize.
Here’s just a selection of his answers:
“I saw it and I just looked at the first part… I didn’t see the whole thing”
“No, I didn’t make a mistake. I mean, I look at a lot of thousands of things and I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine… It was a take off on The Lion King.”
“I didn’t do it. This was done by someone else. It was a retruth but that was a very strong truth.”
“A staffer posted… If you take a look at that and see the whole thing, it was a small section at the very end… I didn’t do it by the way, this was done by somebody else.”
“I mean, it went up. I really have no message.”
“I am the least racist president you’ve had in a long time as far as I’m concerned.”
If you’re looking for some words on how to feel, might I point you in the direction of Jack White.
Reporter: The WH says a staffer sent that video. Are you going to fire the staffer?
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Trump: No. I looked at it. I didn’t see the whole thing. I gave it to the people, they posted it.
Reporter: Are you going to apologize?
Trump: No, I didn’t make a mistake. It was a take off… pic.twitter.com/KXLHnhr8lE
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 7, 2026
