- By Supratik Das
- Sun, 27 Jul 2025 02:54 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Obama viral meme controversy: US President Donald Trump has sparked online outrage again, but this time for posting a controversial meme featuring former President Barack Obama at the center of a police pursuit parody of the infamous 1994 O.J. Simpson white Bronco chase. The meme, which was first tweeted by Donald Trump Jr. on July 22 on the social media platform X (then known as Twitter), gained speed after being posted by Trump on his own site, Truth Social, over the weekend. The digitally manipulated photo shows Obama driving a white Ford Bronco, pursued down a highway by a police vehicle operated by Trump himself. The second patrol vehicle in the photo includes Vice President JD Vance, who afterward reshared the meme with a laughing face.
A Satirical Swipe or Political Provocation?
The meme's similarity to the 1994 television slow-speed police pursuit of NFL star O.J. Simpson, who at the time was murder-accused, added a controversial twist. Simpson's white Ford Bronco became a notorious photo in American media culture, rendering the parody instantly recognizable but also incendiary. In Trump's version, the imagery implies Obama is fleeing from justice, backing up Trump's repeated assertions that his predecessor was embroiled in "high-level corruption." JD Vance's retweet of the meme with a laughing emoji only fueled the fire. At the same time, Donald Trump Jr., who initially posted the meme on July 22, captioned it simply with "Coming soon." This post is just one of many in Trump's continued "meme offensive," including a recent AI-produced video of Obama being taken away by FBI agents, another event inspiring blistering backlash and AI-fueled disinformation warnings.
This is not the first time Donald Trump has kicked off a fresh wave of online controversy by posting two back-to-back digital attacks on former President Barack Obama,first with an AI-generated video falsely depicting Obama being arrested in the Oval Office. The video, which Trump posted without any dsclaimer, depicts Obama handcuffed as Trump looks on in the background with a smile on his face. The clip begins with an actual quote from Obama declaring, "Especially the President is above the law," and continues with a montage of American lawmakers declaring "no one is above the law." The clip concludes with Obama inside a jail cell donning an orange prison jumpsuit — an image many critics argue risks dangerously obscurity with reality and fiction.
The AI stunts accompany escalating rhetoric from Trump allies. US National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard claimed last week that top Obama administration officials "weaponised" intelligence agencies to undermine Trump's 2016 presidential victory. In a statement on X, Gabbard stated her office had compiled evidence of an attempt at a "multi-year coup" and called for criminal prosecution of those behind it. She indicated documents had been handed over to the Department of Justice. A 114-page ODNI report, however, disputed her assertions that Russia "did not impact recent US election results" and that intelligence reports were not doctored to hurt Trump.
Criticism Increases Across Parties
Trump's opponents accused him of employing "juvenile tactics" to deceive the public, while some of the netizens cautioned against how quickly doctored content goes viral on social media without labels. Hashtags such as #ArrestObama started trending with some questioning the authenticity of the video. "Is this real? Can Obama actually be arrested? " one user asked. Another commented, "This is misleading and irresponsible. People are going to believe it."
Even though there was no factual basis for the video, it was watched millions of times, sparking new arguments about the role of deepfakes and disinformation in politics. From a July 22 ridicule meme of Obama as a fugitive to an AI-produced Oval Office arrest video, Donald Trump has escalated his online attack, employing satire and artificial media to mobilize his base and elicit outrage.
