Mussman Condemns Trump’s Racist Social Media Posts

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, is denouncing President Donald Trump’s racist social media post depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.

Earlier this month, an artificial intelligence (AI) video was posted to the president’s Truth Social account depicting various Democratic elected officials and content creators as jungle animals. The Trump Administration claimed that the post was simply mirroring Disney’s The Lion King, although there were no apes in the film. The depiction of people of color as apes is a centuries’ old, well-known racial stereotype and caricature. The video has since been deleted from the president’s social media without an apology to the Obamas or anyone else depicted in the video, nor acknowledgement of the video’s inherently racist nature.

“The racism displayed in this video is abhorrent, appalling and reprehensible,” said Mussman. “We must call out racism when we see it, acknowledge our country’s racist and turbulent past and work toward a kinder, more accepting future.”

Mussman supported House Resolution 696 to honor the 100th anniversary of Black History Month and condemn the president’s racist rhetoric. The resolution makes clear that this AI video is not the administration’s first overtly racist action, but one of its most recent efforts to diminish and sideline Americans of diverse backgrounds.