Trump privately said GOP senator who criticized his Obama video was 'dead to him': report

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

President Donald Trump was outraged at multiple Senate Republicans' public criticism of a video posted to his Truth Social account last week, according to a new report.

CNN reported Friday that Trump privately erupted when hearing that Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) went to social media to criticize the video, which at one point depicted former First Couple Barack and Michelle Obama as primates. Unnamed sources confided to the network that Trump felt Scott calling the video racist was "out of line," per CNN.

"The president felt he could’ve handled that matter privately," one anonymous senior White House official said. "He was like, ‘We work together all the time. He didn’t need to comment publicly.’"

According to CNN, Scott did attempt to reach out privately to the president, but was unable to reach him. He then wrote on his official X account that he was "praying" the video was fake, because it was "the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House."

Trump was reportedly even more outraged at Britt's remarks. After Trump's account deleted the video, the Alabama Republican praised the move, writing on X that it "should have never been posted to begin with, and is not who we are as a nation."

One of CNN's sources told the outlet that Trump was heard "using expletives to denounce her and declaring that she was dead to him." Britt's office pushed back on that account, insisting that the source was relaying "fake news." The White House also praised Britt in a statement, saying the president has "great respect" for her.

Trump blamed the video — which was only taken down after roughly 12 hours — on an unnamed staffer. When he was asked during a recent White House press conference if the staffer in question had been fired, Trump said no, then defended the video as a "very strong" statement against voter fraud.

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