{"id":10464,"date":"2026-02-16T13:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/?p=10464"},"modified":"2026-02-16T13:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:40:10","slug":"barack-obama-responds-to-controversial-video-involving-him-and-michelle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/barack-obama-responds-to-controversial-video-involving-him-and-michelle\/","title":{"rendered":"Barack Obama Responds to Controversial Video Involving Him and Michelle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former President Barack Obama has finally spoken out after a controversial video posted by former President Donald Trump depicted him and former First Lady Michelle Obama as dancing apes. The video, shared on Truth Social earlier this month and now deleted, drew immediate backlash across the political spectrum\u2014but Trump has refused to apologize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a new interview with YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama, 64, called the clip \u201cdeeply troubling\u201d and said it highlights a growing problem in U.S. politics. \u201cAs I\u2019m traveling around the country, you meet people who still believe in decency, courtesy, and kindness,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then there\u2019s this sort of clown show happening on social media and television.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Obama criticized the erosion of standards in the presidency, noting that what used to be considered basic decorum has all but vanished. \u201cThere doesn\u2019t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to respect the office,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Barack Obama BREAKS SILENCE on Trump&#039;s ape video, Bad Bunny, and 2028 election\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uI-hgSE5QIw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Continue reading on next page&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--nextpage-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The video, posted on Feb. 5, sparked bipartisan condemnation. Even some of Trump\u2019s own Republican colleagues criticized the post, including Senator Tim Scott, who called it \u201cthe most racist thing I\u2019ve seen out of this White House.\u201d Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt attempted to downplay the outrage, telling TMZ to focus on stories that \u201cactually matter to the American public.\u201d Trump, 79, defended the video as a \u201ctake off on The Lion King\u201d and claimed it was created by a staffer, insisting he \u201cdidn\u2019t make a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond the viral clip, Obama addressed broader concerns about the Trump administration\u2019s actions. He criticized ICE operations in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, calling them \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d and \u201cdangerous,\u201d pointing to aggressive tactics like removing people from their homes and using children to pressure parents. He also referenced the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, describing them as \u201cheartbreaking tragedies\u201d and \u201cwake-up calls\u201d about the erosion of core American values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-320-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10465\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.499330655957162;width:673px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-320-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-320-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-320-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-320-1536x1024.png 1536w, https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-320.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sub><sup>Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images<\/sup><\/sub><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reflecting on the political climate, Obama emphasized the power of the American people. \u201cUltimately, voters will decide how they feel about these actions at the ballot box,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople still believe in decency and kindness\u2014and we\u2019re going to fight back with truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Takeaway:<\/strong> Stay informed, speak out, and engage\u2014our voices shape the values we pass on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former President Barack Obama has finally spoken out after a controversial video posted by former President Donald Trump depicted him&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10467,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10464\/revisions\/10467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}