<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Former US president Barack Obama has described a video President Donald Trump posted that showed Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, condemned by many as racist, was part of a brazen "clown show".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Obama made the comments during a wide-ranging interview with US liberal podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The interview was Obama's first since Trump's social media account earlier this month posted and then deleted a video depicting the former president and former first lady as apes in a jungle.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/alexei-navalny-killed-by-poisoned-russian-dart/c48dde5f-253c-44b1-82e2-def50926f04c" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Russia accused of killing opposition leader Alexei Navalny with 'dart frog toxin'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cohen, while mentioning the video, asked Obama how the US can reverse the decline of civil discourse.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Though Obama didn't directly address Trump's post, he said, "There's this sort of clown show that's happening in social media and on television," adding that people "who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect" appear to not be showing "any shame about this".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump has refused to apologise for the video, blaming a staffer for the mistake and insisting he hadn't seen the final frames of the video which contained the offensive content.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/barack-obama-hits-back-at-donald-trump-racist-post/64d649bd-8551-47d0-adef-697d9a37661f" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I think it's important to recognise that the majority of the American people find this behaviour deeply troubling," Obama said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is true that it gets attention. It's true that it's a distraction."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/two-men-stabbed-in-sydney-police-hunt-gang/fbc2f0ed-58f6-479f-a77c-69fc5a9d33ff" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Two young men hospitalised with stab wounds in capital city</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He argued that the US can restore "norms, rule of law (and) decency" by saying "enough," something he said he's now "seeing across the board".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump's post was widely condemned by a wide range of American politicians and civic leaders, from civil rights chiefs to veteran Republican senators, for its treatment of the nation's first Black president and first lady.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US Senate's lone Black Republican, Tim Scott of South Carolina, called on Trump to take down the post.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House," Scott said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Another Republican, Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, is white but represents the state with the largest percentage of Black residents.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wicker called the post "totally unacceptable" and said the president should apologise.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><strong><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>