'Is the staffer in the room with us?' CNN's Tapper mocks Trump's excuse for racist video

Since posting a racist AI-generated video to his Truth Social account on Thursday night, President Donald Trump has blamed the now-deleted post — which depicts former First Couple Barack and Michelle Obama as apes — on an unnamed staffer. But CNN host Jake Tapper remains unconvinced.

In a Friday monologue on his show "The Lead," Tapper noted that likening Black people to apes is an "age-old, blatantly racist trope" that the president and his staff were almost certainly aware of at the time the video was posted. He also pointed out that neither Trump nor any White House spokespeople have so far apologized to the Obamas for the video.

Tapper then observed that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt "seemed outraged thatpeople were even asking about" the video, and dismissed it as a "meme video." She then told reporters to "please stop the fakeoutrage and report on somethingtoday that actually matters tothe American people." But Tapper reminded Leavitt that "reposting a racist meme isnot an excuse for postingsomething racist," and pointed out that numerous Trump-supporting Republicans spoke out immediately and demanded Trump take down the video and apologize.

"Given how oftencongressional Republicans claimto have not seen an offensivetweet, or they try to change thesubject, or they pretend to beon their phones, all of thatblowback suggested that theinitial White House excuse wasjust not cutting it," Tapper explained. "So, lo andbehold, the White House responsechanged, as it often does. Justbefore noon, the White Housereleased a new statement saying, 'a White House staffererroneously made the post. Ithas been taken down.'"

"The White House did not answermy question as to which stafferit was," Tapper continued. "Is the staffer in theroom with you right now?"

The CNN host reminded viewers of Trump's recent interview with NBC News' Tony Llamas, in which he was quick to distinguish between when he personally posted something to Truth Social and when he "re-truthed" content from other accounts. He then asked why Trump — who is often prone to take credit for his more controversial posts — is suddenly putting blame at the feet of "some nameless,faceless staffer."

"If this personexists — who was supposedlytruth-ing on the president'saccount just before midnightlast night — they continue thesame approach," Tapper said.

"For what it'sworth, the trump administrationcommunication cycle — or what youmight call a circle of life — isthis: The president puts outsomething wild, if notoffensive. He creates confusion.Then they cast doubt. They pointfingers until the Americanpeople give up and move on," he added. "Butthe president typically tells onhimself. Just listen to hiswords and look at what he posts."

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