Exclusive: Sen. Raphael Warnock Condemns Trump’s Racist Post About The Obamas, Urging Lawmakers ‘Not To Be Silent’

United States Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia is calling for accountability from the Trump Administration after a video posted from President Donald Trump’s social media account used racist imagery. It depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, using the nation’s highest position to further divide the country.

“This is an assault on humanity,” says Warnock. “It is important that this be viewed not only as an assault on our Black humanity but an assault on the covenant that we have with one another as an American people.”

In an exclusive interview with ESSENCE, the senator shared his initial reactions to the post, stating that “dehumanization is a prerequisite for violence.” He referred back to “our country’s darkest demons,” discussing how the president’s actions resemble hate crimes that have led to lynchings and police brutality in the past. 

After the video circulated on Friday and drew criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, the president declined to apologize, without hesitation. He chose not to acknowledge any wrongdoing for himself. During an interview with reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One, Friday evening, he responded, “Of course I do,” when asked if he condemned the racist element of the video. 

U.S. Senator Tim Scott publicly condemned Trump’s post. He described it as “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.” Scott is the only Black Republican in the Senate and is often a strong supporter of Trump. Scott is among several Republican lawmakers who have criticized the video posted by the president. Trump later called Scott to say the video was posted by a staffer by mistake.  

However, the White House’s initial response defended the post, showing no remorse. “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” says Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary. She diminished the severity of the racist visual, stating, “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.” The post was quickly removed from the president’s account. 

“The same White House that put up this awful tweet is the same White House that has ignored Black History Month and is right now trying to dismantle anything that looks like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion — we have to say no to this, and all Americans of decency and honor have to condemn it,” Warnock says.  

The video tracks with America’s long and dark history of racism in literature, illustration, and speech, categorizing African Americans as apes or anything other than human. Associating Blackness with monkeys dates back centuries, done to support white superiority and justify colonization, American slavery, and decades of Jim Crow laws. That history of caricaturizing Black people, America’s deep history of doing so, explains the outrage that the president’s actions have evoked. 

(Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The Obamas have been a target of racist comments and imagery since the national leaders broke barriers as America’s first Black President and First Lady in 2008. Just a month after Obama was sworn into office, he signed the Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law to address what is known to be the “worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” On February 18, 2009, The New York Post published an editorial cartoon of a chimpanzee being gunned down by law enforcement, following the text “they’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” Although the cartoon was posted the day after Obama signed the bill into law, the newspaper denied any reference to the president.  

Since departing the White House after a two-term presidency and reviving the country’s economic growth, adding 8.5 million jobs by January 2014, both the former president and first lady have constantly reminded Americans of the “dangerous consequences” of Trump’s rhetoric and actions on immigration, election, and voting laws, and other key issues. Trump, in turn, has attempted to revise and erase America’s racist past. And as of Friday, February 6, he has become the first sitting U.S. president to amplify racism against a former president and first lady.

“We can’t allow them to normalize this,” says Warnock, calling out Trump and other acts of racism pervading the country. “We’re seeing this play out on the streets of Minneapolis and cities all across the nation. We don’t want masked men jumping out of unmarked cars wreaking havoc and violence against ordinary citizens – that is the history that recalls the ugliness of the hooded perpetrators of the Ku Klux Klan and Donald Trump.”

Warnock emphasizes that Trump is trying to pull America back to an “awful history.” He calls for his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to condemn racism.

“Silence is betrayal and approval, and people of conscience have to speak up and condemn this with all their might,” Warnock says. “Then, those same people have to push forward with legislation and public policy that affirms our humanity – that means people ought to have access to basic health care, a decent education and arel=”tag”>Barack Obama Michelle Obama Racism Rev. Raphael Warnock

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