President Trump is refusing to apologize for publishing a racist video that depicts former President Obama and Michelle Obama as apes. Trump’s account on his social media platform Truth Social posted the video late Thursday night, where it remained for 12 hours before it was deleted around noon on Friday. It prompted rare criticism of the president from Republicans, including Tim Scott, the Senate’s only Black Republican. Scott said, “It’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” adding that he was “praying it was fake.” But speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump defended his actions.

Reporter: “Mr. President, a number of Republicans are calling on you to apologize for that post. Is that something you’re going to do?”

President Donald Trump: “No, I didn’t make a mistake. I mean, you give — I look at a lot of — thousands of things. And I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine. They had that one post. And I guess it was a takeoff. By the way, a lot of people were covered. If you look at where it came from, a lot of — I guess it was a takeoff on 'The Lion King.' And certainly it was a — a very strong post in terms of voter fraud.”