‘Clown show’: Obama unleashes on Trump

Former President Barack Obama is warning that American political discourse has slipped into what he described as a “clown show,” breaking his silence after President Donald Trump shared a social media video that briefly depicted Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama with their faces on monkeys’ bodies.

In a wide ranging podcast interview released Saturday with progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama criticized what he called a growing lack of shame and decorum in national politics. The remarks marked his first public response to the video, which appeared on Trump’s Truth Social account on Feb. 5 before being removed.

Donald Trump was branded ‘clinically insane’ and ‘incredibly racist’ after posting a video of an AI-generated clip that portrayed Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys. Picture: Supplied

Near the end of the one minute video, which promoted conspiracy theories surrounding Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, an AI generated clip showed the Obamas’ faces superimposed onto monkeys for about one second. The imagery, widely condemned as racist, prompted backlash from Democrats and some Republicans. The White House initially dismissed the criticism as “fake outrage” before later attributing the post to a staff error and taking it down.

Without mentioning Trump by name, Obama said most Americans “find this behavior deeply troubling.”

“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television,” Obama said. “What is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office. That’s been lost.”

The exchange underscores the increasingly combustible nature of digital politics as the country heads toward midterm elections. Obama predicted that such rhetoric could ultimately damage Republicans, arguing that voters will deliver the final verdict.

“Ultimately, the answer is going to come from the American people,” he said.

Trump has told reporters he stands by the broader claims made in the video about election fraud but said he had not seen the offensive imagery at the end of the clip.

Beyond the controversy over the video, Obama also sharply criticized Trump’s recent immigration crackdown in Minnesota. Thousands of federal agents, including officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, conducted sweeping raids over several weeks in what the administration described as targeted enforcement actions against criminal offenders.

The operation drew large protests and intensified scrutiny after two fatal shootings involving federal agents. Obama described the conduct of some officers as reminiscent of tactics used in authoritarian regimes.

President Donald Trump previously reposted an AI video of former President Barack Obama being arrested and sent to jail. Picture: Truth Social

“The rogue behavior of agents of the federal government is deeply concerning and dangerous,” he said, adding that such actions are the kind “we’ve seen in authoritarian countries and dictatorships.”

At the same time, Obama expressed optimism about what he called organized and peaceful community resistance.

“Citizens saying, ‘this is not the America we believe in,’ and pushing back with the truth, with cameras, and with peaceful protests,” he said. “That kind of sustained behavior by ordinary people is what should give us hope.”

The Minnesota operation triggered nationwide demonstrations and became entangled in a broader political fight in Washington. The Department of Homeland Security faced a partial shutdown as lawmakers clashed over funding and oversight of immigration enforcement. Democrats have vowed to oppose additional funding unless changes are made to how ICE conducts its operations.

For Obama, the controversy over the video and the immigration raids are symptoms of a deeper erosion of norms. His warning was less about a single post and more about the trajectory of American political culture, and whether voters will demand a restoration of restraint and institutional respect in the years ahead.