Pa. lawmakers condemn Trump for racist video about Obamas
Fitzpatrick publicly condemned Trump’s post and called for an unequivocal apology.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYThe Philadelphia Inquirer is an established regional newsroom with identifiable authorship and a record of original local and political reporting. The article attributes outside reporting to the Associated Press and The New York Times rather than presenting it as its own.
- Source type — Established regional news publisher with substantial local and national political coverage.
- Author attribution — The article names a staff writer and identifies a contributing staff writer.
- Editorial standards — The reporting attributes quotes and outside claims to their sources.
- Transparency — The story identifies when claims came from the AP and The New York Times.
The story includes direct statements from lawmakers across both parties and reports the White House’s explanation. It provides useful political context, though the story is primarily a collection of reactions and offers limited independent detail about how the video was posted.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The story includes bipartisan criticism and the White House’s explanation, but most of the quoted material condemns Trump’s post and the article gives limited space to the White House’s account.
- Source diversity — Quotes lawmakers from both parties, alongside the White House press secretary’s response.
- Counterarguments presented — Reports the White House’s staffer explanation and Leavitt’s claim that the reaction was fake outrage.
- Omitted context — The White House’s explanation is reported briefly and is not explored in detail.
The article reports the video and lawmakers’ responses in largely factual language, with critical characterizations attributed to the people who made them. Its selection of condemnations is balanced by the White House’s explanation and Leavitt’s response.
- Language tone — Most evaluative language appears in attributed quotations rather than in the reporter’s voice.
- Source selection — The article includes statements from Democratic and Republican lawmakers as well as the White House response.
- Framing — The framing centers on lawmakers’ reactions to a post described by them as racist.
Pennsylvania lawmakers from both parties condemned President Donald Trump after he shared a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick called for an apology, while the White House blamed a staffer for the post.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick called Trump’s post “a grave failure of judgment” and said an apology was owed. Reps. Dwight Evans and Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick also condemned the video. Republican Sen. Tim Scott called it the most racist thing he had seen from the White House and said Trump should remove it. The post was deleted Friday.
The White House blamed a staffer for the video, while press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the reaction as “fake outrage” and said the video was a meme inspired by The Lion King. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro agreed with Scott that the video was racist. The article also notes Fitzpatrick’s past votes against Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Community verdict
18 VOTESPeople in this story
SWIPE →Pennsylvania representative calling on Trump to apologize
President whose social media post drew bipartisan condemnation
Trump's version of this story ↗Former president depicted as an animal in the video
Pennsylvania senator condemning Trump’s post
White House press secretary responding to criticism of the video
South Carolina senator calling for Trump to remove the video
Pennsylvania representative condemning Trump’s post
Pennsylvania senator condemning the video
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