President Trump called Sen. Tim Scott Friday after fallout from a “Lion King” meme video that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes posted to his Truth Social account – saying the senator “understood 100%.”
Trump said he didn’t see the tail end of the video before it was posted and had a phone call with Scott (R-S.C.), the only black Republican in the Senate, who called for Trump to remove it.
“I spoke to Tim Scott. He was great. Tim is a great guy. He understood that 100%,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Florida Friday night.
“I didn’t see the whole thing,” Trump said about the controversial video which sparked backlash.
“I guess during the end of it there was some kind of a picture that people don’t like. I wouldn’t like it either,” he added.
Trump said he “liked the beginning” of the roughly one-minute video and passed it on.
“I didn’t see it. I looked at the first part,” Trump urged, adding that he only looked at the first part of the video – about “voter fraud in some place, Georgia.”
The White House has blamed an unidentified staffer for the gaffe.
That person, Trump said, didn’t look at the whole video.
“Generally they look at the whole thing, but I guess somebody didn’t,” he added. “We took it down as soon as we found out.”
When pressed by reporters, Trump declined to offer an apology. “No, I didn’t make a mistake. I mean, I look at a lot of – thousands of things. I looked at the beginning of it, it was fine,” he said.
His comments came hours after the White House deleted the video from Trump’s Truth Social account.
