President Trump implored November voters to remember his policy victories, not his racist Truth Society posts.
Trump, 79, took to his social media platforms Friday night to brag about lifting Obama-era restrictions on commercial fishing off the New England coast. A day earlier, Trump had been widely condemned for releasing an artificial intelligence-generated video depicting the Obama family as apes.
“Today, I signed a presidential proclamation to free up commercial fishing in the Atlantic Ocean and advance America’s fishing priorities!” Trump wrote.
“Remember, I’m doing this for you, against the Democratic backlash and to vote Republican in the midterm elections!”
Trump boasts about lifting commercial fishing restrictions in New England. /Donald Trump/Truth Society
Trump announced Friday “the restoration of commercial fishing access to all 4,913 square miles of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the coast of New England.”
President Obama established the nearly 5,000-square-mile preserve east of Cape Cod in 2016 to protect fragile undersea coral ecosystems. Trump dismantled these protections during his first term, and Joe Biden restored them during his.
Trump called the announcement a good-faith endorsement of New England, a region that voted for Democratic candidates in all three of Trump’s presidential elections.
Trump scolded New England for voting against him. /Samuel Colum/Getty Images
“It’s hard to believe you voted for the Democrats who did this to you instead of voting for ‘Trump,’ who got you out of this environmental and economic mess,” the president scolded, adding, “Vote Republican from now on!”
Trump’s call for midterm election momentum comes as all signs point to Democrats dominating Republicans in November and having a strong chance of winning back both houses of Congress.
Trump’s poor polling on the economy and immigration – two issues that will give him an edge in the 2024 election – have become a heavy burden on fragile Republican incumbents.
Now, embattled Republican politicians in their re-election campaign must reconcile their party leader’s release of a deeply racist video targeting his old political rival.
A disgusting image of the Obama family is superimposed on the ape. / truth society
Trump posted a video showing the faces of Barack and Michelle Obama superimposed on an orangutan in a frenzy of posts late Thursday night.
The government has offered numerous excuses for the controversy. White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said it was just a lion king Memes, even if there’s no ape in them lion king. Trump said he didn’t see the offensive part of the video because it appeared at the end of the video.
Republicans reportedly panicked over the article.
Trump’s former chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, reportedly told NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer that the video ruined the Republican Party’s slim chances of winning the midterm elections.
Mulvaney added: “I’ve talked to several House members who don’t know how they’re going to handle this.”
Republican Senator Pete Ricketts, who is running for re-election in 2026, explicitly condemned Trump’s post. /Mike Taylor/Getty
Notably, some Republican incumbents broke with Trump in the video. Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts, who is up for re-election in 2026, is one of several Republican politicians taking the Obama post to explicitly denounce Trump’s racism.
“Even if this is a lion king “Meme, a reasonable person would see the racist context in this,” he posted on X. “The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this content and apologize.”
