Business
(VIDEO) Trump Deletes Controversial Video Featuring Clip Depicting Obamas as Apes Amid Widespread Backlash
President Donald Trump on Friday removed a video from his Truth Social account that included a racist clip depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, following intense criticism from Democrats, Republicans and civil rights leaders. Trump declined to apologize, insisting he had not viewed the full video before it was posted and blaming a staff member for the error.
The roughly 62-second video, shared late Thursday night, promoted long-debunked claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. At its conclusion, the footage abruptly shifted to a brief animated segment — apparently AI-generated — showing the Obamas’ faces superimposed onto cartoon apes dancing in a jungle setting. The clip played over the 1961 song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens. The segment lasted only a few seconds before the video ended.
The post remained visible for nearly 12 hours before being deleted around midday Friday, as outrage mounted. White House officials initially defended the share, describing it as part of an “internet meme” portraying Trump as the “King of the Jungle” with various Democrats depicted as animals from “The Lion King.” Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an early statement that the content highlighted Trump’s dominance in politics.
Bipartisan condemnation came swiftly. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the only Black Republican in the Senate, called the depiction “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.” He urged Trump to remove the post and issue an apology, emphasizing that such imagery perpetuates harmful stereotypes.
Other Republicans, including Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., labeled the content “unacceptable” and “racist,” calling for its immediate removal. Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Cory Booker, condemned the video as a continuation of dehumanizing rhetoric directed at the nation’s first Black president and first lady.
Civil rights organizations were among the most vocal critics. The NAACP described the imagery as invoking “centuries-old racist tropes used to dehumanize Black people,” tracing the comparison of Black individuals to apes or monkeys back to the era of slavery and segregation. The Southern Poverty Law Center noted that such depictions have historically served to justify discrimination and violence.
The Obamas did not immediately comment publicly. Representatives for the former president and first lady said they were aware of the incident but declined further statement at this time.
Speaking to reporters Friday afternoon outside the White House, Trump addressed the controversy directly. Asked if he would apologize, he replied, “No, I didn’t make a mistake.” He added that he had only seen the beginning of the video before it was posted by a staffer and was unaware of the offensive ending. “It was fine until that part,” he said, referring to the main election-related content.
Trump condemned the racist clip itself when pressed further, saying, “Of course I do,” but maintained that the error lay with the staff member responsible for the post. A White House official later confirmed the video was “erroneously” shared and had been taken down.
The incident occurred during the first week of Black History Month, amplifying criticism that the imagery was particularly insensitive. Historians and scholars have long documented how portrayals of Black people as primates were weaponized during the Jim Crow era and earlier to deny humanity and justify oppression.
The video appeared to originate from a longer meme shared on X (formerly Twitter) in October by a conservative account. That original clip depicted several prominent Democrats — including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others — as various animals, with Trump as a lion receiving bows from the group. Trump shared only the portion featuring the Obamas as apes.
Social media experts noted that Truth Social, Trump’s platform, has fewer content moderation controls than mainstream sites, allowing such material to spread quickly among his followers before wider scrutiny. The post garnered significant engagement before deletion, with thousands of reposts and comments.
The episode marks a rare instance of the Trump White House walking back a social media share. Previous controversies involving Trump’s posts have typically been defended or ignored rather than removed. The deletion followed pressure from within his own party, highlighting the political risk of the content amid efforts to broaden appeal.
Public reaction was swift on social media and in traditional outlets. Clips of news coverage circulated widely, with commentators from across the spectrum decrying the imagery. Some supporters dismissed the backlash as overreaction to a “meme,” while others expressed disappointment.
The timing coincides with ongoing political tensions between Trump and Obama, who has criticized the current administration on issues ranging from democracy to foreign policy. Obama has remained active in public life through his foundation and occasional speeches.
White House aides said internal reviews would be conducted to prevent similar incidents. No disciplinary action against the staffer was announced.
The controversy overshadowed other developments in the administration’s early days, including policy announcements and international engagements. It also renewed discussions about the role of social media in amplifying divisive content and the responsibilities of public figures in vetting shared material.
As of Saturday morning, no further statements had come from Trump or the White House on the matter. The deleted post’s link now redirects to a generic Truth Social page.
The incident underscores persistent racial sensitivities in American politics, particularly around depictions of Black leaders. For many observers, it served as a reminder of how historical tropes can resurface in modern digital contexts, even at the highest levels of government.
Business
Vijay Kedia Portfolio Check: 7 stocks slide up to 50%, 2 big winners shine, plus 2 fresh picks
Investors often track the portfolios of seasoned market veterans for insights. In this context, ETMarkets reviewed the investment holdings of veteran investor Vijay Kedia. According to the latest available data for the December 2025 quarter, Kedia has publicly disclosed stakes in around 17 companies, with a combined market value of approximately Rs 1,118 crore as of February 6, 2026. This marks a decline of nearly 19% from Rs 1,378 crore recorded in March 2025.
I prefer to look for GARP (growth at a reasonable price) stocks but also look for opportunities everywhere else. I don’t have a specified time horizon. I invest in a stock for as long as my thesis holds true, and I get out when the facts change. In addition, I’ve developed market-beating algorithms with Python that have helped me find attractive investment opportunities within my own portfolio, and I have been investing since 2016.On top of that, I’ve worked at TipRanks as an analysis/news writer and even as an editor for a few years, which not only kept me on top of the market but also helped me understand what people are interested in reading. Further, as an editor, I learned to pay attention to detail and found that there’s plenty of misinformation and “fluff” out there that needs to be corrected. Thus, my goal is to provide accurate and useful information to the best of my abilities.I was previously associated with Investor’s Compass.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
The company’s operating profit (before provisions and contingencies) grew 40% YoY to Rs 32,862 crore.
The profit reported during the quarter was highest-ever for the bank, which came on the back of healthy loan growth.
The lender’s net interest margin stood at 2.99% in Q3FY26, while domestic NIM came in at 3.12%. For the nine months ended December 2025, domestic NIM was 3.08%.
Asset quality continued to improve, with the gross NPA ratio declining to 1.57%, down 50 basis points YoY. Net NPA ratio improved to 0.39%, lower by 14 basis points.
Provision coverage ratio, including AUCA, stood at 92.37%, while PCR excluding AUCA was 75.54%. Slippage ratio for the quarter remained contained at 0.40%, and credit cost stood at 0.29%.
On the balance sheet front, SBI’s total business crossed Rs 103 lakh crore, with deposits exceeding Rs 57 lakh crore and advances crossing Rs 46 lakh crore. The bank’s advances grew 15% YoY, led by domestic advances growth of 15%. Retail advances rose 16%, with all sub-segments reporting double-digit growth. SME advances expanded sharply by 21%, while agricultural advances grew 16% and retail personal loans increased 15%. Corporate advances also recorded a healthy growth of 13%.
Deposits grew 9% YoY, with CASA deposits rising 9%. The CASA ratio stood at 39.13% as of December 2025, while retail term deposits grew 14%, reflecting sustained traction in liability mobilisation.
The bank’s capital position remained comfortable, with the capital adequacy ratio at 14.04% and CET-1 ratio at 10.99%. Digital adoption also remained strong, with over 68% of savings bank accounts opened through Yono in Q3 and alternate channels accounting for nearly 98.6% of total transactions during the nine-month period.
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Alphabet-backed Aye Finance raises Rs 454 crore from anchor investors ahead of IPO; Goldman Sachs key investor
The company informed stock exchanges that it allocated equity shares to anchor investors at Rs 129 per share, the upper end of its price band. The anchor book saw participation from a clutch of global and domestic institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs, Societe Generale, HDFC Life, BNP Paribas Financial Markets, Bay Pond Partners and Ithan Creek Master Investors (Cayman), according to the filing.
The anchor allocation comes days ahead of the Rs 1,010 crore IPO, which will open on February 9 and close on February 11, with listing scheduled for February 16 on the BSE and NSE. The issue comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 710 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 300 crore by existing investors, including Alpha Wave India I LP, MAJ Invest Financial Inclusion Fund II, CapitalG LP, LGT Capital Invest Mauritius and Vikram Jetley.
Aye Finance has fixed the price band for the issue at Rs 122 to Rs 129 per share, with a face value of Rs 2 per share. Investors can bid for a minimum of 116 shares and in multiples thereafter. At the upper end of the price band, the retail application size works out to Rs 14,964.
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Founded in 1993, Aye Finance is a non-banking financial company in the middle layer category, focused on providing secured and unsecured business loans to micro-scale MSMEs. Its borrowers are spread across manufacturing, trading, services and allied agriculture sectors. As of September 30, 2025, the company had 586,825 active customers across 18 states and three union territories and assets under management of over Rs 6,027 crore, according to a CRISIL report.
The lender specialises in small-ticket loans, with an average disbursement ticket size of around Rs 0.18 crore, and has built underwriting capabilities around assessing cash flows of micro enterprises clustered across different geographies. This approach has helped the company maintain stable credit costs while scaling its loan book, industry analysts said.
On the financial front, Aye Finance reported revenue from operations of Rs 843 crore for the six months ended September 30, compared with Rs 692 crore in the year-ago period. For FY25, revenue stood at Rs 1,460 crore, while net profit rose to Rs 175 crore, up sharply from Rs 40 crore in FY23.
Axis Capital, IIFL Capital Services, JM Financial and Nuvama Wealth Management are the book-running lead managers to the issue, while KFin Technologies is the registrar. The offer is being made through the book-building route, with up to 75% reserved for qualified institutional buyers, and the rest allocated to non-institutional and retail investors.
The strong anchor response is expected to lend momentum to the IPO as it opens amid active primary market conditions and rising investor interest in profitable, scalable NBFC business models.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)
Over fifteen years of experience making contrarian bets based on my macro view and stock-specific turnaround stories to garner outsized returns with a favorable risk/reward profile. If you want me to cover a specific stock or have a question for an article, just let me know!
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
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