Barack Obama has sharply condemned Donald Trump after the former president shared a video online that depicted Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as apes, a racist trope with a long and violent history in the United States.

The video, circulated on Trump’s social media platform and quickly amplified by his supporters, used crudely edited images and audio to portray the Obamas as primates. Civil rights advocates and political observers denounced the clip as an unmistakable use of dehumanizing imagery long directed at Black people.

In a statement released through his office, Obama described the video as “a reminder that racism is never far from the surface in our politics” and said that such content is “not just offensive, but dangerous.” He emphasized that the imagery was part of a broader pattern of attempts to normalize bigotry in public life.

“When a former president promotes this kind of thing,” Obama said, “it tells millions of people that this is acceptable. It is not. It never has been.” He added that the attack was not only personal but emblematic of the hostility faced by Black public figures who challenge entrenched power.

Michelle Obama, who has frequently spoken about the emotional toll of racist attacks during and after their time in the White House, responded by urging Americans not to become numb. She called the video “a cheap, hateful stunt” and said it should galvanize people to defend basic standards of decency.

Historians and media scholars noted that comparing Black people to apes has been used for centuries to justify exclusion, violence, and discrimination. They warned that when such imagery is amplified by powerful political figures, it can fuel harassment and real-world harm.

Trump’s team did not issue an apology, instead dismissing criticism as political correctness and claiming the video was “satire.” That explanation was rejected by civil rights groups, who argued that hiding behind humor does not erase the racist content or its impact.

Obama concluded his response by urging Americans to focus on what the episode reveals about the current political climate. “This is about who we are willing to be,” he said. “We can choose cruelty and division, or we can choose to be better than this.”