{"id":10064,"date":"2026-02-12T14:15:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/12\/synenberg-calls-trump-post-racist-cleveland-jewish-news\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T14:15:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:15:28","slug":"synenberg-calls-trump-post-racist-cleveland-jewish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/12\/synenberg-calls-trump-post-racist-cleveland-jewish-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Synenberg calls Trump post \u2018racist\u2019 – Cleveland Jewish News"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

Ohio Rep. Eric Synenberg, D-Beachwood, called President Donald Trump\u2019s now-deleted social media post that included a video clip depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama with the bodies of apes as \u201cracist,\u201d \u201chateful\u201d and \u201chorrible,\u201d as he and state Rep. Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland, urge lawmakers to join them in signing a resolution formally condemning the action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t seen the video and I don\u2019t want to see it,\u201d Synenberg told the Cleveland Jewish News on Feb. 9. \u201cI\u2019ve seen the screenshot and that\u2019s enough for me. There\u2019s all kinds of excuses being presented. It\u2019s clear as night and day \u2013 it\u2019s racist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly all of the 62-second clip, which was among dozens of Truth Social posts posted by Trump late on Feb. 6, appears to be from a conservative video alleging deliberate tampering with voting machines in battleground states as the 2020 presidential votes were tallied. At the 60-second mark is a quick scene, set to the song, \u201cThe Lion Sleeps Tonight,\u201d of two animated primates, with the Obamas\u2019 smiling faces imposed on them, according to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Frames were taken from a separate video, previously circulated by an influential conservative meme maker. It shows Trump as \u201cKing of the Jungle\u201d and depicts a range of Democratic leaders as animals, including Joe Biden, who is white, as a jungle primate eating a banana, according to AP reporting.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers and politicians from both sides of the aisle condemned the video including the U.S. Senate\u2019s lone Black Republican, Tim Scott of South Carolina, who called on Trump to take down the post.<\/p>\n

\u201cPraying it was fake because it\u2019s the most racist thing I\u2019ve seen out of this White House,\u201d Scott, who chairs Senate Republicans\u2019 midterm campaign arm, said on social media, according to the AP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The White House said a staffer had posted the video erroneously.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral Republicans have repudiated the video and I give them credit,\u201d Synenberg said. \u201cIn Ohio, they include Rep. Max Miller, Rep. Mike Turner, Rep. Bob Latta and Sen. Jon Husted. However, I should not have to give them credit for doing the right thing and where are the other leaders of our state?\u201d<\/p>\n

When reached via email by the CJN, Dan Tierney, deputy director of media relations for the Office of Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said that \u201cno comment has been issued, but I will reach out if that changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

When reached via email by the CJN, Husted\u2019s office sent the following statement on his behalf: \u201cThe video was absolutely unacceptable, and I\u2019m glad the White House recognized that and removed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Beachwood, spoke out against the video on social media, saying, \u201cI am DISGUSTED by Trump\u2019s attack on the Obamas and Black Americans, but am I surprised? Of course not. But I refuse to let him ruin Black History Month. Let\u2019s set the record straight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Mike Turner of Dayton also denounced the video on social media, stating, \u201cI do not feel the need to respond to every inflammatory statement made by the White House. However, the release of racist images of former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama is offensive, heart breaking, and unacceptable. President Trump should apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Feb. 6, Synenberg and Upchurch, a Black state representative, announced in a joint press release that they were calling on \u201ctheir colleagues in the Ohio General Assembly to join them in condemning\u201d the video. The deadline to cosponsor the resolution was Feb. 9 and it will be officially filed in the House Clerk\u2019s office next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis video is demeaning, offensive and completely unacceptable,\u201d Upchurch said in the release. \u201cActions like this are vile, erode trust in our leaders, and contradict the respect that our communities and our country deserve. As elected officials, we must stand together to reject this behavior and uphold the principles of fairness, integrity, and justice for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Synenberg said he wanted to go a step above making a social media post or issuing a statement condemning the act, and he teamed up with Upchurch, who shared the sentiment, to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m upset,\u201d Synenberg said. \u201cThis is horrible and racist. We should expect more from the president. I wanted to present a resolution that will be in the public domain that clearly condemns this. When you have a president on his own social media portraying a former president in a racist manner, it does rise to this level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Synenberg said many will say that there are more important things to worry about and that he agrees, but this \u201chistoric\u201d incident is a form of \u201chate speech\u201d that \u201ccannot be normalized in any realm in our society, let alone public politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to actually work on substantive legislation that actually affects Ohioans,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s much more important than this. We cannot ignore this. I do think that this rises to this level of condemnation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has refused to apologize for the video, telling reporters he \u201cdidn\u2019t make a mistake\u201d and that he \u201cdidn\u2019t see the whole thing. The president said that he \u201cgave it to the people, generally they\u2019d look at the whole thing, but I guess somebody didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this somehow happened to me, I would be mortified,\u201d Synenberg said. \u201cI would have hoped the president would have made a public apology and not issue excuses. That\u2019s the kind of leader we want in the White House, not one who doubles down and refuses to apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n

Synenberg said it does \u201cirreparable damage to our reputation as a country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so vitally important that people actually believe in our system of government and that our officials are good and honest,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have political differences, but it\u2019s crucial that people believe and have faith in our leaders and their governing. That\u2019s taken such a hit over the last several years and incidents like this do further damage to that trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ohio Rep. Eric Synenberg, D-Beachwood, called President Donald Trump\u2019s now-deleted social media post that included a video clip depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama with the bodies of apes as \u201cracist,\u201d \u201chateful\u201d and \u201chorrible,\u201d as he and state Rep. Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland, urge lawmakers to join them in signing a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}