Cardinal Blase Cupich calls for White House to apologize for racist video depicting Obamas as primates

Cardinal Blase Cupich is calling on the White House to apologize after President Donald Trump shared a racist social media post that depicted former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as primates.

“Portraying human beings as animals — less than human — is not new,” Cupich said in the statement. “Our shock is real. So is our outrage. Nothing less than an unequivocal apology — to the nation and to the persons demeaned — is acceptable.”

Nearly all of the 62-second clip appeared to be from a conservative video alleging deliberate tampering with voting machines in battleground states as the 2020 presidential votes were tallied. At the 60-second mark is a brief scene of two primates, with the Obamas’ smiling faces superimposed on them.

The post was condemned by both Democrats and Republicans, with Gov. JB Pritzker saying “Donald Trump is a racist” in a response on social media. The post was deleted and blamed on a staffer after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the criticism as “fake outrage.”

“A few days ago, we saw that in the White House such blatant racism is not merely a practice of the past. If the President intentionally approved the message containing viciously racist images, he should admit it,” Cupich wrote in his statement. “If he did not know of it originally, he should explain why he let his staff describe the public outcry over their transmission as fake outrage.”

President Donald Trump told reporters Friday evening he only saw the first part of the since-deleted video and wouldn’t apologize for the post. When asked if he condemned the racist portion of the video, Trump said, “Of course I do.”