Trump’s attack on the Obamas is an attack on Asian Americans

Donald Trump’s video that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes goes beyond an assault on one Black couple.

The Truth Social post, which promoted false claims about the 2020 election, was deleted after about 12 hours of backlash last week. But the president, whose popularity has suffered over ICE’s actions in Minnesota, refused to apologize. “I didn’t make a mistake,” he stated, clarifying his vision for an America where citizenship has a color.

Of course, we know there’s just one color in his eyes. And it’s definitely not ours.

The 62-second clip parroted conspiracy theories about the said election while “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” a song from “The Lion King,” played in the background. Toward the end, a portion showed artificial intelligence-generated imagery placing the Obamas’ faces onto apes in a jungle. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One the following day, Trump admitted he made the decision to post the video, though he tried deflecting blame by claiming he handed it to an unidentified staffer after viewing only the beginning.

The White House response was nothing but damage control. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially brushed off the criticism, describing the post as “an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from ‘The Lion King’” before telling reporters to “stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.” There are, of course, no apes in “The Lion King.” There is one baboon, Rafiki. And for those who may not know, baboons have tails, apes don’t.

Unsurprisingly, condemnation grew, including from Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who supported Trump in his 2024 campaign after running for the Republican primary himself. Now, the Senate’s only Black Republican has called the video “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”

Sadly, this was not an isolated incident. When the administration admitted last month to doctoring a photo of Nekima Levy Armstrong, a Minnesota protester and Black civil rights attorney, to make her look disheveled and distressed, a spokesman called it nothing more than a “meme.”

Trump’s dehumanization of the Obamas echoes his long history of othering anyone who does not fit his narrow definition of belonging. His birther conspiracy theories questioning Obama’s citizenship, which he amplified as far back as 2011, falsely suggested Obama was not born in the U.S.

We recognize this tactic all too well. The attacks mirror the perpetual foreigner stereotype that plagues Asian American communities regardless of how many generations of their families have been here. As Michelle Obama stated at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Trump’s “limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happened to be Black.” We believe he perceives the same threat in Asian American excellence.

A study published in American Politics Research found that COVID-19 news coverage corresponded with declining favorability toward Asians, and the effect was notably stronger among Trump supporters. Why? His deliberate use of terms like “Chinese virus” and “kung flu” fueled a surge in hateful tweets. After analyzing over 1.6 million COVID-related posts, researchers found that his March 16, 2020 use of “Chinese virus” triggered a marked increase in hate speech across the country. Anti-Asian hate crimes, which we covered extensively at NextShark, also surged during the pandemic amid such rhetoric.

Now, the parallels to his latest attack are unmistakable. Speaking to The New York Times, Collective PAC cofounder Quentin James, whose group advocates for Black political candidates, described the video as a “digital minstrel show.” He warned, “The fact that a sitting president is now using A.I. to circulate the same dehumanizing imagery that appeared in 19th-century propaganda should alarm every American, regardless of party.”

In an apparent display of characteristic dignity, the Obamas ignored the offensive incident. Instead, they posted an encouraging message Friday for American athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics, which quickly drew praise. “Show us you’re unbothered without telling us you’re unbothered. … #Respect #ARealPresident,” the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said in a post.

But while the Obamas’ grace offers a model, grace alone is not enough. We must recognize that Trump’s racism toward Black people is inseparable from his racism toward Asians and other racial minorities, and act accordingly.

Past struggles show the path forward. The 1960s Civil Rights Movement launched many Asian American activists into the fight for justice. Yuri Kochiyama and Grace Lee Boggs, for one, became legendary figures who devoted their lives to advancing both African American and Asian American rights. Building on this foundation of cross-racial solidarity, the Red Guard Party received guidance from Black Panthers Bobby Seale and David Hilliard and became the “Chinese American analog to the Panthers, calling police ‘pigs,’ feeding hungry people in the neighborhood and demanding justice for ‘yellow’ people,” wrote historian Daryl Maeda.

The phrase “Yellow Peril Supports Black Power” first appeared at a 1969 Free Huey rally in support of imprisoned Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton. It then resurfaced in 2020 during the nationwide Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. That solidarity was not charity, but self-preservation through collective action, a recognition that our fates are intertwined.

The times are calling for stronger solidarity. “Every elected official, every corporation, every organization, if you are silent now, if you are not condemning the behavior of the President of the United States, history will remember,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said.

Our hope is that Asian Americans will remember too.