Washington Examiner Executive Editor Bob Cusack said on Sunday that the Republican Party is off to “a very bad start” for the November midterm elections after President Donald Trump generated new controversy over the weekend.
Trump posted and took down a video on Truth Social depicting him as the king of the jungle and former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. The post generated bipartisan backlash, including from Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the only black Republican senator, who called it “the most racist thing I’ve seen” from the Trump White House.
Cusack said this is new territory regarding how Trump has pushed the boundaries of his speech.
“And I think the reaction of Tim Scott, who remember, he’s head of the NRSC [National Republican Senatorial Committee], that’s the campaign chief, so he has to keep the Senate, and he is very concerned,” Cusack said on Fox 5 News On The Hill. “The year has gotten off to a very bad start, and I’m sure many Republicans are shaking their head, and this is not going to go away!”
The White House said on Friday that a staffer “erroneously” posted the video overnight. However, Cusack emphasized that people “want to know” the staffer’s identity.
The full video was about election technology. Trump admitted on Friday that he did not watch the full video. He also declined to apologize for sharing the video on his Truth Social account, but admitted the depiction of the Obamas was “some kind of a picture that people don’t like,” and he “wouldn’t like it either.”
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“I look at thousands of things. I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine,” Trump said.
Prior to the video being taken down, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was an internet meme relating to The Lion King. However, the 1994 Disney movie does not feature gorillas.