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WASHINGTON — <\/span>Ever since a racist video<\/a> was posted on President Donald Trump’s social media account, the White House has offered shifting responses. <\/p>\n First it dismissed \u201cfake outrage,” then it deleted the post and blamed a staff member.<\/p>\n Trump later told reporters Friday that \u201cI didn’t make a mistake.” The Republican president insisted that before the video was posted, no one saw the part that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as primates in the jungle.<\/p>\n But the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus had a different explanation when she spoke to The Associated Press. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very clear that there was an intent to harm people, to hurt people, with this video,\u201d said Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y.<\/p>\n The AP interviewed Clarke, who leads the group of more than 60 Black House and Senate members, hours after the video was deleted on Friday, and she was unsparing in her criticism. \u201cAs my mother would say, \u2018Too late. Mercy\u2019s gone,'” Clarke said. <\/p>\n Here is an interview transcript, edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n AP: What was your reaction when you saw that the post? <\/p>\n CLARKE: We\u2019re dealing with a bigoted and racist regime. … Every week we are, as the American people, put in a position where we have to respond to something very cruel or something extremely off-putting that this administration does. It\u2019s a part of their M.O. at this point. <\/p>\n AP: Do you buy the White House explanation that this was an aide’s mistake? <\/p>\n CLARKE: They don\u2019t tell the truth. If there wasn\u2019t a climate, a toxic and racist climate within the White House, we wouldn\u2019t see this type of behavior regardless of who it’s coming from. … Here we are, in the year 2026, celebrating the 250th anniversary<\/a> of the United States of America, the 100th anniversary of the commemoration of Black history<\/a>, and this is what comes out of the White House on a Friday morning. It’s beneath all of us. <\/p>\n AP: Has there been any contact between the White House and the Congressional Black Caucus on this? Could there be any good-faith exchange? <\/p>\n CLARKE: There has been no outreach from the White House. We certainly didn\u2019t expect there to be. The outreach has to happen prior to these type of juvenile antics.<\/p>\n AP: Republican criticism built more quickly Friday than it has during previous Trump controversies. What do you make of that? <\/p>\n CLARKE: It\u2019s not lost on them, our communities that we represent, that elections are coming up. So it\u2019s not lost on my colleagues, either. If they want to align themselves with this type of really profane imagery, this type of bigoted and racist attack on a former sitting president and his wife, they are throwing their lot in with an individual who has shown himself to be a disgrace.<\/p>\n AP: It’s not common for President Trump to retract anything. What does that indicate to you that he did? <\/p>\n CLARKE: I think it\u2019s more of a political expediency than it is any moral compass. … As my mother would say, \u201cToo late. Mercy\u2019s gone.\u201d <\/p>\n AP: What more do you hope to see from the White House about this? <\/p>\n CLARKE: My hope is that we can contain the harm that they\u2019re doing. There are Black children who are listening to their president … seeing what he\u2019s posting on Truth Social (and) it will have an impact on how they view leadership of their own country. … I think that this administration has an opportunity to change course. They always do. We leave room for that. But, unfortunately, Donald Trump is hardwired this way.<\/p>\n AP: Is there anything else you’d like to add? <\/p>\n CLARKE: As a democracy, we have to stand up together against this type of racism, this type of bigotry, this kind of hatred that is coming from the president of the United States and those who surround him. … It\u2019s very clear that there was an intent to harm people, to hurt people, with this video. Otherwise, it wouldn\u2019t have stayed up for 12 hours. <\/p>\n ___ Barrow reported from Atlanta.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n