Donald Trump shared a controversial AI-generated video depicting Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes earlier this year. Now, Barack Obama is sharing his thoughts on the matter.

The video was posted to Donald Trump’s Truth Social account in February 2026 and sparked outrage, with many viewers criticizing it as racist. Trump defended sharing the video, saying it was primarily about “voter fraud” and calling it a “strong piece,” according to Tyla.

Trump said during an Oval Office press conference in February: “That was a video on, as you know, voter fraud. A fairly long video that had a little piece that had to do with ‘The Lion King’.”

He added: “It’s doing very well, it’s being shown all over the place. Long before that was posted. That was a very strong – I’m sure you saw it – piece on voter fraud.

“The piece that you’re talking about was all over the place, many times, I believe, for years.”

Barack Obama breaks his silence
Barack Obama has now addressed the controversy in an interview with The New Yorker, saying he does not necessarily view it as a personal attack — but feels differently when it comes to his family.

He said: “I don’t take it personally,” and continued: “I mean, I’m always offended when my wife and kids get dragged into things, because they didn’t choose this… That’s a line that even people whose politics I deeply reject, I would expect them to care about. I would never talk about somebody’s family in that way.”

Obama also expressed concern over the AI-generated videos Trump has shared, saying they treat war “like a video game” and show “excrement dumped on ordinary citizens.”

He added: “I mean, I’m a fair target in the sense of, yeah, you can feel free to pick on me, because I’m your own size.”