On May 4, 2026, a video was posted on YouTube where MS NOW host Rachel Maddow analyzes Donald Trump's Targeting of Black Americans.

Here's a summary of Maddow's analysis:

• On February 5, 2026 Trump posted a video depicting President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as primates in a jungle. Trump never apologized.
• Trump's initial denial that he ever said "shithole countries" but at a December 9, 2025 rally in Pennsylvania he "proudly bragged" about previously saying it
• Trump's firing of high-profile Black public U.S. officials, notably Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles C .Q. Brown, Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, Gwynne Wilcox from the National Label Relations Board, Peggy Carr, the head of the National Center for Education Statistics, Robert Primus, the chair of the Surface Transportation Board, Alvin Brown from the NTSB, Peggy Carr, the head of the National Center for Education Statistics, Willie Phillips from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
• The DOGE personnel cuts to federal agencies, orchestrated by Elon Musk, affected a disproportionate number of black employees, described by reporter Erica Green in a August 31, 2025 article published in The New York Times
• An issue with Black employees being referred to using only their first names
• An executive order Trump issued on January 21, 2025 ending the long-standing practice of non-discrimination in government employment (DEI), originally enacted by an executive order issued by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 28, 1965
• A public memo issued by the U.S. General Services Administration on February 15, 2025 which rescinds clause 52.222-21 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which prohibits government contractors from establishing segregated facilities.
• According to current and former employees of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Donald Trump, enforcement of the Fair Housing Act is no longer happening.
• The recent U.S. Supreme court decision in Louisiana v. Callais and the subsequent rush to redistrict

Maddow concludes her video by saying:

But big picture here, we are in the middle of something really radical in this country, not just to get rid of our constitutional republic, to replace our form of government with something else, but to get rid of the multiracial democracy that our constitution is supposed to protect. It is a war on black America. The fight to save it is looking like it's going to be the fight of all of our lives.

Source:

Maddow, Rachel. (May 4, 2026). "Maddow: Trump is terrible at everything except this one thing". YouTube/MS NOW. Retrieved 2026-05-05.

Commentary:

Regarding the Obama ape video, Karoline Leavitt said:

This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.

In a statement, NAACP President Derrick Johnson said

Donald Trump's video is blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable.

No, the outrage was not "fake" as Leavitt said. This is just more Leavitt B.S. Leavitt, like Trump, lives in a fantasy bubble where anything Trump says or does is just fine, regardless of how offensive, radical, or hypocritical. Both Leavitt and Trump will try to spin a situation in their favor, regardless of how obvious it is that they are dead wrong.

If there was nothing wrong with the posted video, then it wouldn't have been taken down. The fact that it was deleted shows that it was understood that the video is offensive and racist. If you say that it was taken down just to appease people who didn't approve of the video, then ask yourself the question, when has Trump or anyone in his administration ever done anything to "appease" someone that was offended by something he or someone in his administration said or done?

Regarding "shithole" countries, here's what Trump said at the December 9, 2025 rally in Pennsylvania:

Remember, I said that to the senators that came in, the Democrats. They wanted to be bipartisan. So, they came in and they said this is totally off the record. Nothing mentioned here. We want to be honest, because our country was going to hell and we had a meeting and I say why is it we only take people from shithole countries, right? Why can't we have some people from Norway, Sweden -- just a few -- let us have a few from Denmark. Do you mind sending us a few people? Send us some nice people, do you mind? But we always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime -- the only thing they're good at is going after ships.

Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump first made the "shithole" countries reference reference on January 11, 2018.

The "shithole" countries Trump referred to are comprised mostly of people of color. This is just another "brick on the pile" of all the things Trump has said or done which are, at best, border-line racist.

In conclusion, when you consider all of the actions taken by the Trump administration that Maddow points out, and especially considering the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision impacting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the resulting "fallout" of contested redistricting maps, it's crystal clear that Trump, the sycophants in his administration, and the conservative justices on the Supreme Court are systematically disenfranchising people of color, reversing all of the gains our democracy has provided them over the past 60 or so years.

It's beyond shameful, but as we all know, Trump and his supporters have no shame. They are all "hell-bent" on their extreme, non-inclusive, and undemocratic agenda.

I've said this before but I will say it again...

There is a significant and mostly covert undercurrent of racism in America. In my opinion, many people in America, especially conservatives, are racist. These people would swear up and down that's not the case, but if they had the ability to truly search their hearts and souls, without bias, I think they would discover that they in fact harbor an "unhealthy" dislike of non-white Americans. I use the term "unhealthy" to distinguish between a simple dislike and a dislike that is a detriment to society and human rights.

Maddow is correct when she says this is a war on Black America.

And every person who voted for, or who supports Donald Trump, bears some responsibility for this war.