Spineless Republican Rep. Mike Lawler was harder on "whoever created" the racist "meme" of the Obamas being depicted as apes then he was of Trump for reposting it. Lawler made an appearance on this Sunday's This Week on ABC, and was asked by Jonathan Karl about this post on the evil bird site:

The President’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.

— Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) February 6, 2026

Lawler gave an equally mealymouthed condemnation of Trump in response.

KARL: You were one of the very first Republicans to come out and condemn the president's social media post that had those images of the Obamas as apes.

Here's what you said: “The president's post is wrong and incredibly offensive -- whether intentional or a mistake -- and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.”

Now, after you said that, they were still defending it, but it did get deleted eventually after about 12 hours.

Should the president apologize?

REP. MIKE LAWLER, (R) NEW YORK: Look, I think sometimes in our public discourse, it is best to just say “I'm sorry”. You know, I take the White House at their word that this was a mistake, but at the end of the day, given the history of our nation, given the insensitivities with some of the stereotypes that have long been promulgated to attack African-Americans, I think it's imperative to recognize that, and meet the moment.

And you know, I think sometimes it's just best to say “I'm sorry”, and do better. And I think, you know, given the situation, I'm glad they deleted it. But that type of meme or, you know, implication is wrong. And I think, whoever created the original meme, is an idiot. And really, that type of content should not exist in our country. I think everybody should recognize the history and really do better.

KARL: And what do you make of the fact that the White House -- about the time you were condemning it -- said that people like you were guilty of fake outrage, that this was fake outrage, this was just a -- you know, a simple Internet meme? I mean, how do we go from there to and then like many hours afterwards they delete it? But they don't -- they don't sort of sure as heck don't seem sorry about it in any way.

LAWLER: Look, I think Tim Scott obviously was one of the first people to speak out. I don't think he was engaged in fake outrage.

I think the vast majority of Americans recognize that that type of imagery and trying to, you know, compare the first Black president to a gorilla or a monkey is insensitive. It's offensive. It's racist. And I think most Americans recognize that. And it was rightly condemned.

And as I said in my statement, whether it was intentional or a mistake, the fact is it's wrong and we should all just be able to acknowledge that and move forward.

KARL: All right. You've been clear on that.

Lawler's first mistake is taking this administration or Trump "at their word" about anything. They lie about everything and deserve no deference. And he knows full well, just like the rest of us that Trump is the one who posted it, and that he'll never apologize for anything, ever. But that didn't stop him from pretending that it was somehow unintentional or a "mistake" by someone other than Trump.

They're still more worried about offending Trump and what's left of his racist base than they are the majority of us who are completely disgusted by this. Shame on him.