The final frames of the video, which appeared on President Trump’s account on Thursday evening, depicted former US President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the video, describing the reaction to it as “fake outrage”. It was later deleted, some twelve hours after being published.
In a statement, Cardinal Cupich stressed that “portraying human beings as animals – less than human – is not new”. Successive generations of immigrants to the United States have been demeaned in this way, he said.
The videoclip, Cardinal Cupich wrote, shows that “in the White House such blatant racism is not merely a practice of the past”.
Apology
President Trump has condemned the clip, but refused to apologise, saying that it was posted in error by an aide.
In his message, Cardinal Cupich called on the President to offer an apology.
“If the President intentionally approved the message containing viciously racist images, he should admit it,” the Archbishop wrote. “If he did not know of it originally, he should explain why he let his staff describe the public outcry over their transmission as fake outrage.”
“Our shock is real,” Cardinal Cupich said. “So is our outrage. Nothing less than an unequivocal apology – to the nation and to the persons demeaned – is acceptable. And it must come immediately.”