Former President Barack Obama has once again commented on a racist AI video shared by President Donald Trump, saying he “doesn’t take it personally”.
The clip appeared on Trump’s Truth Social account in February and portrayed the US’ first Black president and his wife, Michelle Obama, as apes. The now-deleted video, which sparked widespread backlash online, also played The Lion Sleeps Tonight in the background.
The AI-generated post also included unproven allegations about election fraud.
When the video was circulating, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed critics were expressing “fake outrage”.
Trump later denounced the racist elements of the clip, saying he had only watched the beginning. He did not directly apologise.
Obama has now addressed it himself.
“I don’t take it personally,” the former POTUS said in an interview with The New Yorker.
“I mean, I’m always offended when my wife and kids get dragged into things, because they didn’t choose this … That’s a line that even people whose politics I deeply reject, I would expect them to care about. I would never talk about somebody’s family in that way.”
Obama also pointed to other AI-style videos shared by the White House, warning that they can make serious subjects feel trivial — comparing them to war being treated “like a video game”.
This isn’t the first time he has spoken on the issue. After the posts first appeared in February, the 64-year-old said: “It’s important to recognise that the majority of the American people find this behaviour deeply troubling.
“It is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction,” he continued, before saying that “decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office” have been lost.
In those earlier remarks, he did not mention Trump by name.
In other parts of the new interview, Obama said that his decision to publicly respond to Trump has also affected life at home — including putting pressure on his marriage to Michelle Obama.
The pair married in 1992 and recently marked their 33rd wedding anniversary.
They share two daughters, Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24.
Even so, Obama acknowledged that their long relationship has faced challenges — and he suggested Trump is part of that strain.
He said the repeated jabs from Trump have “creates genuine tension” at home.
“It frustrates her,” he said of Michelle.
Obama added: “I’m more forgiving of it, in the sense that I understand why people feel that way, because people aren’t looking at me in historical comparison to other presidents.”