Donald Trump REFUSES to apologize for sharing racist video of Obamas

Donald Trump told reporters he will not apologize for the racist video he shared depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. 

The president spoke publicly for the first time since the video was released - to outrage from both Democrats and Republicans - on Air Force One Friday night and maintained he did nothing wrong.

'I looked at it. I didn’t see the whole thing. I gave it to the people, they posted it,' said Trump, noting he 'didn't see' the part where the Obamas were imposed on the bodies of apes.

'What I saw in the beginning was really strong. It was about fraudulent elections. Anytime I see that stuff and it’s credible, you put it up. I didn’t do it. This was done by someone else. It was a re-truth but that was a very strong truth,' Trump added. 

Trump also said that the staffer the White House alleged posted the video will not be fired. 

He was then asked if he would apologize.

'No, I didn’t make a mistake,' he said. 

He also touted his relationship with the black community during his two terms as president.

'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 am concerned.'

Trump also lashed out at a journalist who accused Trump of 'not knowing what was going on in his name' after criticizing Joe Biden for having done the same.  

'I know a hell of a lot better than you do. You don’t know what’s going on. I know what’s going on,' he said. 

The clip, which he shared late last night, focuses on his accusations of fraud during the 2020 election. 

An AI video shows the faces of the former president and first lady imposed on the bodies of apes, followed by The Tokens' song The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

The clip belongs to a pro-Trump account on X but was reposted by the President on his Truth Social platform.

Trump's latest swipe at the Obama family sparked widespread condemnation across the political divide. 

'Disgusting behavior by the President,' wrote California Governor Gavin Newsom's press office wrote on X. 'Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.'

Republican Tim Scott, the Senate's lone black Republican, also took to the internet to call the administration out.  

'Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it,' Scott said.

'A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,' a spokesman for the President told the Daily Mail on Friday, without naming the staffer it is holding responsible for the post.

Trump deleted the clip hours later after a furious backlash from senior Republicans.

Soon after, he posted a video detailing the history of the black conservative movement in the GOP. 

The U-turn comes just hours after press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on Trump's swipe at the Obama family, accusing critics of 'fake outrage.'

'This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,' Leavitt told the Daily Mail. 

'Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.'

The clip belongs to a pro-Trump account on X but was reposted by the President on his Truth Social platform.

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Other prominent Republican senators joined Scott in demanding that Trump take down the video. 

Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi posted on X: 'This is totally unacceptable. The president should take it down and apologize.' 

Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska wrote: 'Even if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this. The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize.' 

Trump's video sparked condemnation from the senators' Democratic colleagues. 

'Disgusting behavior by the President,' California Governor Gavin Newsom's press office wrote on X. 'Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.' 

Democratic political strategist Adam Parkhomenko posted: 'This is overt racism. Full stop. There's no "misinterpretation" and no excuse. This is who he is, who he's always been, and why he should never be anywhere near power again.'

Trump's longstanding feud with Obama stretches back decades, beginning when he first promoted claims that the 44th president was born outside the United States.

Since starting his second term, Trump has intensified attacks against Obama on social media by accusing the former president of 'treason'.

The President claimed Obama betrayed the US by spying on his presidential campaign over accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump has posted AI memes on Truth Social showing Obama's arrest and imprisonment.

Trump's video of the Obamas has been liked more than 2,500 times and reposted more than 1,100 times on Truth Social.

The Daily Mail has contacted the Obamas for comment.