President Donald Trump used his Truth Social account Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. to pay tribute to the late civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson — while simultaneously launching attacks against former President Barack Obama, continuing a pattern of social media posts that have drawn widespread criticism in recent weeks.
Jackson, 84, died Tuesday morning after battling progressive supranuclear palsy, his family announced. In his tribute, Trump described Jackson as “a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts,'” but quickly pivoted to attacking Obama, writing that Jackson “had much to do with the Election, without acknowledgment or credit, of Barack Hussein Obama, a man who Jesse could not stand.”
The tribute-turned-attack comes less than two weeks after the White House scrambled to contain fallout from a racist video Trump posted depicting Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle scene while pushing debunked conspiracy theories about election fraud in Georgia. That video remained online for nearly 12 hours before being deleted around noon on Feb. 6.
The video featured other prominent Democrats portrayed as animals, including Hillary Clinton as a warthog, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Trump appeared in the footage as a lion, with “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens playing in the background.
When confronted by reporters aboard Air Force One about the racist imagery, Trump refused to apologize and insisted he hadn’t watched the entire video before posting it. “I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump told reporters, claiming he only viewed the beginning portion about voter fraud before passing it to staffers.
The White House initially defended the post through Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who dismissed concerns as “fake outrage” and described it as “an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.” Hours later, the administration changed course, with a White House official stating that “a White House staffer erroneously made the post.”
The post triggered rare bipartisan condemnation. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the Senate and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wrote he was “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.” Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican facing a competitive race in November, called the post “wrong and incredibly offensive” and urged Trump to delete it immediately with an apology.
The NAACP condemned the timing of the post during Black History Month, stating: “Trump posting this video — especially during Black History Month — is a stark reminder of how Trump and his followers truly view people. And we’ll remember that in November.”
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington demanded the White House and National Archives preserve the deleted post under the Presidential Records Act. “There is no racism exception to the PRA,” said CREW President Donald Sherman in a Feb. 10 letter to federal officials.
The video controversy represents just one instance in Trump’s pattern of prolific late-night and early-morning social media activity. CNN’s Jake Tapper documented that Trump “posted or reposted more than 60 times” during one overnight stretch in late January, attacking multiple political figures and promoting unfounded claims about the 2020 election.
Trump’s posts have frequently contained false information. In one recent example, he claimed Walmart planned to close 250 of its California stores due to a “$22 minimum wage.” But California’s statewide minimum wage is $16.90 per hour, and a Walmart spokesperson confirmed the claim was entirely false, telling CNN: “This isn’t accurate information. In fact, we actually just recently opened a new store in California.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office responded sarcastically to the debunked claim, writing: “We cannot believe we have to say any of this out loud. We cannot believe this is real life. And we truly cannot believe this man has the nuclear codes. Deep breaths, everyone. Three more years.”
The deleted video also promoted conspiracy theories related to Georgia’s election system. Federal agents seized ballots and election equipment in Fulton County, Georgia last month as part of a criminal investigation, seizing more than 650 boxes of 2020 election materials. The video originated from an account called Patriot News Outlet, which later told CNBC: “We fully unaware of anything that President Trump might have posted including any video claiming to be from Patriot News Outlet.”
Trump’s defenders have noted he frequently posts personally to Truth Social, particularly during late-night and early-morning hours when staff oversight may be limited. The White House has struggled to maintain a consistent explanation for who controls the president’s account and what review process exists before posts go live.
The Presidential Records Act requires preservation of Trump’s Truth Social posts as official records documenting “the activities, deliberations, decisions, and policies that reflect the performance of the president’s constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties.” Sherman emphasized that regardless of content, all presidential communications must be preserved for historical record.
“As much as the Trump administration may want everyone to disregard and forget what President Trump posted, the law demands the very opposite,” Sherman wrote. “Current and future generations deserve an accurate record of the Trump White House, its election sabotage policies and its racism too.”