Former President Barack Obama has broken his silence regarding a controversial social media post from Donald Trump’s account that used racist tropes to depict him and former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Speaking in a podcast interview released Saturday, Obama criticized the "clown show" of modern political dialogue and lamented a pervasive loss of "shame and decorum" among public figures.

The controversy stems from a February 5 post on Trump’s Truth Social account featuring a one-minute video about 2020 election conspiracies.

The clip concluded with a brief, offensive segment showing the Obamas’ faces superimposed on the bodies of monkeys.

While the White House initially dismissed the backlash as "fake outrage," the post was eventually removed and attributed to a staff error.

Without naming Trump directly, Obama told interviewer Brian Tyler Cohen that the "cruelty" of current political rhetoric is "deeply troubling" to most Americans.

He predicted that such tactics would backfire on Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections, stating that "ultimately, the answer is going to come from the American people."

For his part, Trump told reporters he stood by the video's political claims but maintained he had not watched the clip until the end.

Source: AFP