The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned a racist video reportedly shared by President Trump that depicts former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.
The image of the Obamas, which appears to have been AI-generated, shows the bodies of two apes whose faces have been replaced by that of the former president and first lady. They appear to be in a jungle with apes flying in the background. The White House dismissed criticism that the video was racist, and said it is from a meme depicting Trump and the Obamas as characters from the Lion King.
SEE: Trump posts video meme showing Barack, Michelle Obama as apes
“The video targeting former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama is disgustingly racist, unbecoming of the office of the President and crosses the basic parameters of human decency,” said CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “Such overtly racist content erases the few remaining red lines in our increasingly unhinged and openly bigoted political discourse. The President should apologize and this racist content must be unequivocally rejected by leaders on both sides of the aisle.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com