TEHRAN — U.S. President Donald Trump sparked a firestorm of bipartisan condemnation Friday after his official Truth Social account shared a video depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.

While the president eventually condemned the imagery, he flatly refused to apologize, claiming he had not viewed the entire clip before directing aides to publish it.

The minute-long video, which focused on Trump’s persistent, unsubstantiated claims of 2020 election fraud, concluded with an AI-generated segment showing dancing primates with the Obamas’ faces superimposed.

The post remained online for twelve hours, garnering millions of views before its deletion.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump maintained he was not at fault. “No, I didn’t make a mistake,” he said, adding that he had only watched the beginning of the “very strong” video.

When asked if he would apologize, he declined, asserting, “I am the least racist president you’ve had in a long time.”

The incident triggered a rare public rebuke from high-ranking Republicans. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina called the footage “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”

Meanwhile, the White House initially dismissed the controversy as “fake outrage” over a “Lion King” meme before pivoting to blame a staffer for the “erroneous” post.

Civil rights leaders warned that the incident reflects a normalization of dehumanizing rhetoric. NAACP President Derrick Johnson labeled the video “blatantly racist and despicable,” while former Obama advisor Ben Rhodes stated the imagery would serve as a “stain on our history.”