New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said US President Donald Trump should apologise for posting a social media video last week that featured a clip of Barack and Michelle Obama.
Trump shared a social media video about election conspiracy theories, depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as jungle primates—a clip widely condemned as racist.
The 62-second clip, posted among dozens of Trump’s Friday Truth Social updates, mostly came from a conservative video alleging deliberate vote-machine tampering in battleground states during the 2020 election tally.
Trump deleted the post but refused to apologise, blaming the share on a staffer.
When asked if Trump should say sorry for the post, Luxon replied, “Look, yeah, I think he should.”
“He was asked; he says he condemns it, but the reality is I saw coverage of it. I lived in the US for eight years in North America, and I’m well aware of what that trope is all about,” Luxon said.
“And it was racist. And it’s right that it’s been removed.”
“As to whether he apologises for it, that’s obviously a decision for him, but I would have thought you’d want to,” he said.
US Senator Tim Scott was among the critics of Trump’s post.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it,” Scott said.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson also condemned the video in a statement: “Donald Trump’s video is blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable.”
Johnson claimed Trump is resorting to any distraction from the economy and scrutiny over the Jeffrey Epstein files.
“You know who isn’t in the Epstein files? Barack Obama,” Johnson said. “You know who actually improved the economy as president? Barack Obama.”