“Nothing Less Than an Apology” — U.S. Bishops Blast Trump’s Racist Obama Post
When Trump shared a video showing the Obamas as apes, outraged Catholic bishops denounced it as “viciously racist” and urged the former president to take responsibility — and apologize immediately.
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Late on Feb. 5, a surreal video appeared on Donald Trump’s social media feed: the faces of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama crudely superimposed onto apes, set against The Lion King soundtrack.
The clip was deleted by noon the next day after a storm of outrage, but not before its racist imagery — a vile trope used for centuries to dehumanize Black people — drew bipartisan condemnation.
The White House’s initial reaction was to defend the post (calling the backlash “fake outrage”) and then to deflect blame onto an unnamed staffer, while Trump himself refused to apologize. For Catholic leaders, that wasn’t the end of the matter — it was a call to action.
Among the first to respond was Bishop Daniel Garcia of Austin, who leads the U.S. bishops’ anti-racism efforts. He welcomed the fact that the “egregious” post was removed, but emphasized that every racist act is a moral failure.
Quoting a pastoral letter the bishops issued against racism, Garcia reminded Catholics: “Every racist act — every such comment, every joke, every disparaging look is a failure to acknowledge another person as a brother or sister, created in the image of God.”
His early rebuke set the tone: the Church would not stay silent. Here’s a rundown of what happened next.
