We have breaking news right now. The White House removed a racist social media post depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys after it had been live for roughly 12 hours and sparked widespread backlash. At the same time, the White House is saying that the media should talk about “what actually matters” to Americans.
Okay, no problem. We can talk about the racism, and we can talk about Trump’s mention in the Epstein files, which is what I did with Katie Couric. I am working around the clock right now to get you the news in real time, and to get through the millions of Epstein files. Subscribe to support my work and keep this going.
Minutes ago, a senior White House official told CNN that “a White House staffer erroneously made the post” and confirmed it had been taken down. The statement offered no explanation for how such content was approved or why it remained public for half a day. Before the post was removed, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt publicly defended it. Only after sustained public outrage did the administration reverse course.
The response followed a familiar pattern. Initial denial. Public defense. Then deletion. Finally, blame assigned to an unnamed staffer. The video was posted to Donald Trump’s personal account and remained visible for hours. Despite that, responsibility was shifted away from the president himself.
In a formal statement addressing the controversy, Leavitt minimized the issue and accused critics of manufacturing outrage. “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” Leavitt said. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
The backlash was not limited to Democrats or civil rights groups. Condemnation came swiftly from within President Donald Trump’s own party and from longtime supporters who said the post crossed a line that could not be excused. Republican Senator Tim Scott, one of Trump’s most prominent Black allies, publicly rebuked the post and urged its removal.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” Scott said. “The President should remove it.”
Anger was also voiced by rank-and-file MAGA voters, including some who said they had supported Trump repeatedly at the ballot box.
One self-described three-time Trump voter delivered a blistering condemnation after seeing the image. “I voted for Trump, but I really want to apologize,” the voter said. “I’m looking at this awful picture of the Obamas. What an embarrassment to our country. All this man does is tell lies. He is not worthy of the presidency. He takes bribes blatantly, and now he’s being a racist blatantly. He’s pathetic as a president, and I just want to apologize to everybody in the country for supporting this rotten, rotten man.”
That response raises a question worth asking. If this does not matter, what does?
One answer may lie in the Epstein files.
A New York Times review found more than 5,300 files containing references to Donald Trump and related terms, including his name, his wife, and his Mar-a-Lago resort. Those references appear more than 38,000 times across emails, government records, videos, and other materials.
The Justice Department said it reviewed allegations of sexual misconduct involving Trump and Epstein and did not find credible evidence to warrant further investigation. That conclusion was announced by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on CNN.
Still, the documents show that Trump appears repeatedly throughout the Epstein material. The files confirm that Trump and Epstein were close friends through the early 2000s. They socialized together and moved in the same elite circles. Trump has acknowledged the relationship but has repeatedly downplayed its significance and denied any wrongdoing.
The files contain interview notes from Epstein’s victims. In one 2019 interview, a victim recalled being driven to Mar-a-Lago to meet Trump. Other records show that Epstein remained focused on Trump years after their relationship ended. Emails suggest Epstein monitored Trump’s political rise and considered reaching out to him as late as 2011 regarding Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent victims. Giuffre said she was recruited while working at Mar-a-Lago.
The documents also confirm long-public reporting. Photos of Epstein with Trump appear in the files. References to Epstein’s birthday book, which included a crude message attributed to Trump, resurface. Trump denies writing that entry and has sued The Wall Street Journal over its reporting.
There is also a 2002 email from a woman named Melania to Ghislaine Maxwell praising a magazine profile of Epstein. It is unclear whether the sender was Melania Trump, then Melania Knavs, though the timing aligns with her relationship with Trump.
When the White House tells the public to stop paying attention to racism, and to stop asking questions about Epstein, it is effectively asking Americans to look away from two issues that have followed this president for years.
The deletion of a racist post is not accountability. Blaming a staffer is not transparency. And dismissing public concern as “fake outrage” does not make the underlying issues disappear.