Exactly one month ago, the current president of the United States shared a video on social media that depicted the former president and first lady as apes.
Ordinarily, such dehumanizing and overtly racist message like the one Trump posted on Truth Social Feb. 5 would have been seen as a turning point in a presidency, but this was just another day for Donald Trump.
Just look at everything that’s happened since: ICE ended its Minnesota immigration crackdown, the EPA rescinded it’s climate change endangerment finding, a partial government shutdown began, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested as a result of revelations from the Epstein files, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the president’s use of tariffs, Trump delivered the longest ever State of the Union address and he started a war against Iran.
You might be tempted to call him “Teflon Trump,” given his uncanny ability to shed damaging revelations that would sink any other elected official. This is not the first time someone has made that observation. Yet something we seldom think about is the unsettling truth that even if the scandal slides away from the president, the garbage still has to go somewhere.
We’re all buried up to our necks.
I watched Trump’s nearly two-hour State of the Union address, hoping he would apologize for sharing the video, but he didn’t. However, US Rep. Al Green made clear that Black people hadn’t forgotten the racist post. As Trump entered the House chamber, he held up a sign that read, “Black people aren’t apes.”
The Texas Democrat was escorted out of the chamber as MAGA lawmakers chanted, “USA! USA! USA!”
We need more Americans like Green to speak out unapologetically against racism and injustice whenever it happens, no matter who says it.
Barack Obama broke his silence about the video Feb. 14 without mentioning Trump by name during an interview with left-wing podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen. The former president and first lady Michelle Obama were the ones portrayed as apes in the video Trump shared.
“There doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel that you had to maintain some sort of decorum, a sense of propriety, and respect for the office. That’s been lost,” Obama said.
In the interview, Obama said there’s a sort of “clown show” happening on social media and TV.
The animosity between Trump and Obama is evident; they are far from allies, and that estrangement is unlikely to change. While they don’t have to be friends, the endless public jabs from a sitting president toward a former leader convey a harmful message, not just to Americans but to the world at large.
Notably during the interview, Obama did not take the bait to attack Trump. Instead, he simply expressed that he finds this behavior “deeply troubling,” adding that it will hurt the Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections.
Trump’s video post continues to wound Black Americans because it underscores the deep divisions in America, politically, racially, and economically. While many criticized Trump for sharing the video, others defended him, claiming he had not seen the entire clip and that it was shared by an unnamed staff member whom Trump has neither identified nor dismissed. What a joke.
Regardless of your opinion of Trump or the Obamas, I hope can all agree that our country needs to maintain a higher standard of decorum. Our children — and the world — are watching us.
If we want to set a positive example for resolving conflicts and disagreements, there is no position more capable of doing so than that of the President of the United States.
Trump missed the chance to apologize during the State of the Union address, but I appreciate Rep. Green for holding him accountable.
Personally, I didn’t expect an apology from Trump regarding the video, nor do I expect him to stop the petty insults. However, that doesn’t mean the public has to accept it.
More of us need to voice our displeasure ― whether it’s things like racist videos, killing our own people, shielding sex offenders, trashing the planet, raising the price of everything or unilaterally starting wars ― because at the rate things are going, we’ll all be buried so deep in this garbage, none of us can escape.
Reach James E. Causey at jcausey@jrn.com; follow him on X @jecausey
About The Author
More Stories
Law signed by Trump for Holocaust survivors proves reparations is possible, just not for Black Americans, say advocates – TheGrio
All of the Times US Presidents Were Openly Racist Against Black Folks – The Root
All of the Times When These US Presidents Were Openly Racist Against Black Folks – The Root