LI delegation among bipartisan critics of Trump's posting of Obamas as apes

WASHINGTON — Members of Long Island’s congressional delegation were among lawmakers who called Friday for President Donald Trump to take down a Truth Social post that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) in a post on X suggested the video that appeared just before midnight Thursday was possibly the "sloppy" work of one of Trump's staff.

"The president has made tremendous inroads in the Black community, and I can’t imagine that sharing a one-minute video the last second of which was unrelated and pretty racist wasn’t sloppy screen recording by staff," LaLota wrote. "Deleting the post would help right this wrong."

Long Island's other Republican congressman, Andrew Garbarino, also criticized the post, which has since been taken down.

"The President of the United States should not be posting imagery that depicts former President Barack Obama — or anyone — as monkeys. I condemn this completely," Garbarino (R-Bayport) said in a statement to Newsday.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) — the Senate’s only Black Republican — wrote on X he was praying the post was fake "because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it."

Republican Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, John Curtis of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine were some of the other congressional Republicans who condemned the post online.

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) wrote on X: "This hateful imagery has no place in this country. No matter your political party, we must denounce this."

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), when asked about the video by Newsday, said: "I do not normally comment on the president’s offensive behavior. If I did, it would be all I did every day. This particular post was especially mean-spirited, racist and totally unacceptable. Even if it’s taken down, people should remember it, and the president should apologize immediately."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on X called the video "Racist. Vile. Abhorrent."

"The President must immediately delete the post and apologize to Barack and Michelle Obama, two great Americans who make Donald Trump look like a small, envious man," Schumer wrote.

On Friday evening, Trump said he won't be apologizing, saying he "didn't make a mistake," according to The Associated Press. 

Imagery depicting Black Americans as apes and monkeys has a history of being used by slave traders, segregationists and white supremacist groups to degrade the Black community.

The backlash over Trump’s post comes as the country celebrates Black History Month.

Trump's post featured a 62-second video that started off as a documentary-style clip rehashing debunked claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, before ending with an animated clip of the Obamas appearing as apes as the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" played in the background.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt initially told reporters in a statement Friday morning that the video was merely "a meme depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King." The White House later backtracked, with an official telling CNN and other outlets "a White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down."

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com,billy.house@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa,

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.