AMERICA'S oldest and largest Irish Catholic organisation has called on US President Donald Trump to apologise after a racist post on one of his social media accounts depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) likened the image to similar historical depictions of Irish people as violent primates in political cartoons.
The White House initially doubled down on the video that appeared on Trump's Truth Social account on Thursday night, describing criticism as 'fake outrage'.
However, the video has since been removed, with blame attributed to a staff member while Trump has refused to apologise, claiming he didn't see the offending portion of the video before it was posted.
The non-partisan AOH said the White House response 'rings hollow' and shows a lack of leadership from the president.
'Bigotry'
The offending part of the clip appeared at the end of a longer video about alleged voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, claims that have since been widely debunked.
The image of the Obamas appears to have been taken from an older video posted on Twitter/X last October by user @xerias_x that also depicted other Democratic politicians — including Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani — as animals from the Lion King.
Only the portion featuring the Obamas featured in the clip Trump shared, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying it had been taken from an internet meme video that also portrayed Trump as a lion.
"Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public," added Leavitt as she initially doubled down on the video.
However, following further backlash, including from Republicans, the video was later attributed to a White House staffer who 'erroneously made the post' and it was subsequently removed.
Neither President Obama nor his wife have so far commented on the post.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians is the oldest and largest Irish Catholic organisation in America (Image: Facebook / Ancient Order of Hibernians in America)The AOH said it issued a moral response to the video depicting the Obamas as apes as such actions were 'used against us as Irish Americans'.
"As an organization founded to combat attacks against Irish immigrants, we know intimately the weaponization of simian imagery," read the statement.
"For generations, our ancestors were caricatured as apes in newspapers, political cartoons and popular culture; portrayed as violent, primitive, and less than human.
"The influential cartoonist Thomas Nast, whose work appeared in Harper's Weekly throughout the latter half of the 19th century, repeatedly drew Irish immigrants with pronounced simian features equating them with violent primates.
"These depictions were used to justify discrimination, exclusion, and violence. They stripped our people of dignity and humanity."
The organisation, which was founded in New York in 1836, said Leavitt initially passing off the video as a light-hearted internet meme was 'morally bankrupt and historically ignorant'.
"This imagery has been used for centuries as a tool of oppression, designed to dehumanize and justify subjugation. It is not humor; it is bigotry," it added.
'Leadership means accountability'
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Friday, Trump said he condemned the racist portion of the video but wouldn't apologise.
He claimed that he only saw the start of the video before it as posted and when asked if he would say sorry, replied: "No, I didn't make a mistake."
However, the AOH said that Trump is responsible for the content on his social media accounts and criticised his alleged unawareness of the content and the attempt to attribute blame to a staffer as a lack of leadership.
"The subsequent walk-back, blaming an unnamed staffer and claiming the president was unaware, rings hollow," said the AOH.
"Leadership means accountability. As a leader, the president should be well aware that the captain of a ship is responsible for all who serve under him.
"When this content appeared on the president's account, the president bears responsibility, regardless of whom he empowered to press the button.
"The initial defense of this post by staffers as harmless reveals either a shocking ignorance of history or a willful disregard for human dignity."
The organisation, which works to promote Irish culture and history, further called on Trump to apologise.
"The Ancient Order of Hibernians is a nonpartisan organization. We do not endorse political parties or candidates," it said.
"But we cannot — and will not — remain silent when any human being is dehumanized through the racist imagery that once targeted our own community.
"An apology is owed. Not for political expediency, but because it is right. The dehumanizing of people as apes was wrong in the 19th century, it certainly has no place in the 21st.
"We call on all people of conscience, regardless of political affiliation, to reject such dehumanization wherever it appears and whoever perpetrates it."
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