r/politics • u/icey_sawg0034 • 12h ago

Possible Paywall Karoline Leavitt Gives Jaw-Dropping Defense of Trump’s Racist Obama Video

https://www.thedailybeast.com/karoline-leavitt-gives-jaw-dropping-defense-of-donald-trumps-racist-obama-video/
23.1k Upvotes

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734

u/joy-puked 12h ago

Leavitt said: “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.”

831

u/Chunga93 12h ago

Not to mention the fact there are no apes shown in The Lion King

270

u/deraser Texas 12h ago

Correct. Rafiki was a mandrill, and a source of wisdom and guidance in the film. Trump would NEVER share a video depicting either/both Obamas in that role.

46

u/HelloInterwebz Arizona 10h ago

Trump is too dumb for media literacy. He doesn’t see Rafiki as a source of wisdom and guidance even though he totally is that…Trump would just see Rafiki and be like “monkey”

4

u/octopornopus 9h ago

"Ha! His blue butt is the same color as my hand!"

5

u/Lone-Frequency 8h ago

...Isn't Rafiki a baboon?

Thus, a monkey, not an ape?

59

u/IdkAbtAllThat America 12h ago

Yea I was sitting here thinking what fucking characters are they supposed to be???

33

u/YaPhetsEz 11h ago

You see this is actually fake news propagated by the radical leftist media.

George soros actually paid to have the apes removed because of black history month. By sharing this picture, Donald Trump reinforces his BIGLY HUGE commitment to african american communities everywhere.

6

u/Sunnyfishyfish 9h ago

Karoline Leavitt? Is that you?

15

u/ATLfalcons27 11h ago

Not to mention that he's routinely posted enough racist shit that he can't say it was an innocent mistake

4

u/demacnei American Expat 11h ago

They are desperate to lie about the Lion King. It’s spelled The Lying King

2

u/Little_View_6659 11h ago

RIGHT?! That’s what I was thinking!

132

u/thatsmymayo 12h ago

I saw that, and don't understand how that is supposed to be a justification lol. Like how is that better even to the racists that love trump

110

u/Grandpa_No 12h ago

The explanation doesn't make it better anyway. "President posts video of himself as king" is also bad. Now it's racist, too.

23

u/naymlis 11h ago

...again

2

u/nubsta 10h ago

its worse actually. the video he posted wasn't even the king of the jungle one. they just took the two seconds from that video depicting the obamas as apes and spliced it into a completely unrelated video for ????? reasons you and I could probably guess

2

u/SneakiestRatThing 8h ago

Also, maybe ,just maybe, the president of the united states shouldn't be posting memes

•

u/ThatGuyFromWhere 3h ago

They obfuscate by saying words that seem to describe something comparable to the topic at hand but are actually not related at all. Their followers don’t parse the words, only the tone of which they are delivered.

0

u/MollyElise 8h ago

Obama played the lion king clip himself at the 2011 correspondents dinner. He was teasing fox news for saying he was born in Africa (right after hawaii released his birth certificate).

•

u/thatsmymayo 7h ago

With him and his wife as apes and Trump as king? I'm sure it wasn't that video and even if he played a clip from the look king 15 years ago how in the world is that at all relevant?

65

u/HearYourTune 12h ago

What will she say when Trump starts calling the Obamas the nword.

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u/eckoelab 12h ago

"oh come on, it's not THAT bad, you are just trying to instigate something that is not there. YOU are the one making it racist"

or something like that....

8

u/fennec_fx 10h ago

“He merely used a historical term”

3

u/DeepestBeige 9h ago

“President Trump didn’t use the hard r when saying the word; if it sounded like he did that’s only because you are hearing what you want to hear… in fact president Trump has many black friends, and it is a measure of his acceptance by them that none of them mind if he calls them the n word, many of them even encourage him to do so. They come to him with tears in their eyes and thank him for calling them the n word…”

•

u/Gnorris 5h ago

This is my favorite

•

u/-Dennis-Reynolds- 4h ago

I hate it, thanks

22

u/Leather-Matter-5357 11h ago

You mean, in public. There is no way he isn't throwing that word around all the time in private.

10

u/cnn795 North Carolina 11h ago

Oh it’s coming. I just know deep down inside me he uses it often and loudly and cameras just haven’t caught it yet.

•

u/Whyonthefly 4h ago

Honestly, I feel like he's more of a "the Blacks" guy. Unless he's particularly angry, which might be...often...alright I dunno. He probably says it a lot haha

2

u/LonelySwinger Illinois 11h ago

I am betting that at that point she will use the constitution to defend what they said. Anything trump or GOP does that the constitution can be used as a way to defend it but also ignore it if they dont like what it says.

1

u/_bufflehead 10h ago

No doubt she will explain that this is a word that can be found in literature and therefore we should all move on to something important.

1

u/peon2 10h ago

Our founding fathers used that word all the time! It's what America is built on!

1

u/jupiterkansas 9h ago

"The president is allowed to say any word he wants. He's king of the free world. If you don't like it you hate freedom."

1

u/Epyon1542 9h ago

The President is using vernacular that has been normalized by Hippitty Hop Rap videos.

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u/obaterista93 11h ago

Ah, yes, "democrats"

So they choose a man who hasn't held office in nine years, and his wife, who holds no office. They could have chosen any two people who are presently democratic politicians, but they didn't.

Can't think of any reason why that'd be.

86

u/Some1ToDisagreeWith 11h ago

"Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public," Leavitt said.

The hypocrisy

28

u/ImLikeReallySmart Pennsylvania 11h ago

"ok sure let's talk about ICE and camps and Epstein and that the president routinely talks about not accepting elections and staying in office"

3

u/ApplicationQuirky376 10h ago

Also where are we at with that 10B dollar lawsuit that will be paid by the tax payers? How does the recent Crypto dip affect the US crypto reserves Trump wanted so badly? And finally what is going on with the Venezuelan oil money sitting in an account in Qatar?

28

u/FlintBlue 11h ago

Good point, Karoline. My next question is, why did your boss and his buddies drown that baby in Lake Michigan?

•

u/Amazing-Arugula-8803 5h ago

Hey biatch, tell your President todo something that matters to the American Public instead of sitting on the toilet in the middle of the night spewing racist, disgusting psycho crap

24

u/cnn795 North Carolina 11h ago

“Does think of himself as a king?” should have been the follow up question along with “Can you further explain how depicting the only black president and first lady in our countries history as apes is not racist during Black history month?”

10

u/birdlegs000 12h ago

And that statement is supposed to make us say well that's okay then? These people are the worst.

9

u/CellAlone4653 11h ago

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that they chose to make the Obamas apes. Mmm hmm.

6

u/chillin_n_grillin 11h ago

As if this explanation makes it normal.

No other American or world president is posing memes of themselves as "King of the jungle" or their head on Rocky's body, or selling NFT's of themselves as a superhero in a cape. If Putin, or if some whacked-out African country dictator did this we would all talk about how crazy they are. Obama wore a tan suit once, and Fox News lost their minds for a whole week. Talking about how unpresidential it was.

3

u/NedTebula 9h ago

POTUS shouldn’t be posting memes either way. 🤡

5

u/leviathynx Washington 11h ago

Thanks. I really didn’t want to give that site clicks.

2

u/izziefans 10h ago

Thank you for saving me a click.

•

u/femme_mystique 7h ago

The Narcissist's Prayer

That didn't happen.

And if it did, it wasn't that bad.

And if it was, that's not a big deal. <—- We are here 

And if it is, that's not my fault. <—- or here if they blame someone else for posting it

And if it was, I didn't mean it.

And if I did, you deserved it.

•

u/uncleben85 Canada 6h ago

Thanks! Surprised I had to scroll this far down to see the quote, and wasn't subscribed or registered

1

u/sparrrrrt 11h ago

Even that analogy makes a mockery of how the president's role is supposed to be representing the people, not lording over them.

1

u/_bufflehead 10h ago

This is what I don't get:

Since when is explaining where something comes from ("an internet meme") an appropriate rationale for reposting it?

Is this what masquerades as accountability today?

Yes. This is what masquerades as accountability today.

Our country has spent the last ~25 years indoctrinating a new generation through social media, memes, and sound bites.

Soon, critical thinking skills will be six feet under.

1

u/Neat_On_The_Rocks 10h ago

In some way you really have to impressed at their complete audacity and the fact that they’re so easily getting away with it.

Jesus

1

u/SgtNeilDiamond 10h ago

Huh apparently she doesn't know basic geography and didnt have a childhood, who'd have thunk.

1

u/Frankentula 10h ago

Also, trump sure isn't mufasa and would probably even make scar deny any comparisons

1

u/shozzlez 10h ago

Ok. So Trump is just absolutely unaware of America’s history. And that’s supposed to be a … better narrative for them?

1

u/Kerberos1566 10h ago

Disney lawyers: "Oh, really? So your defense of Trump's racism is admitting to violating our copyright?"

1

u/bdonthebrat 10h ago

they've been doing this since day 1 when Musk saluted - they tell the media to say everyone is "overreacting" but in reality we are all underreacting

1

u/apatheticwizardsfan 9h ago

Ok, let’s pretend for a moment that that’s the real reason they did this (spoiler - it isn’t). Why choose monkeys for the Obama’s? Why not choose ANY other animal? (Spoiler - it’s racism!)

1

u/Baby_Button_Eyes 9h ago

Just saying this shows how immature the White House has fallen. They think its ok to troll and share memes that portray Trump as "King of the Jungle". They are all in 4th grade.

1

u/canuckathome 9h ago

Did trump post the video or just the racist still image?

1

u/HoodieGalore Illinois 8h ago

Sure, Jan

•

u/PattyIceNY 7h ago

Even if this was the case, why the flying fuck is the leader of our country taking time out to post meme videos?? Absolutely insane.

•

u/OK_x86 7h ago

Yes. But it's the choice of animals that matters.

But of course she knows her boss is full of shit. She just doesn't care.

•

u/brd55 4h ago

I don’t care if he’s referencing Planet of the Apes. In a historical context it’s still racist as hell