Commissioner Ellis says he considered referencing Trump’s post depicting Obamas as monkeys during rodeo resolution talks

The debate over a resolution tied to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo controversy took an unexpected turn Tuesday when Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis revealed he had initially considered including language criticizing President Donald Trump.

After Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey called for Hidalgo’s resignation and apology to the rodeo, Ellis told colleagues he had considered adding a clause aimed at Trump as well, referencing president’s “well-documented pattern of conduct.”

“I got so much respect for you, Commissioner Ramsey, so I won’t do it,” Ellis said, before explaining why he ultimately withdrew the idea, saying he wanted the focus to remain on honoring the rodeo.

MORE FROM THE MEETING: ‘Rodeo was insulted’: Harris County commissioners nix call for Hidalgo’s resignation from resolution after tense debate

“Depicting former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, calling Mexican immigrants drug dealers and rapists, enacting a Muslim ban, referring to Somali Americans as garbage, boasting on tape about grabbing women without their consent, being found liable by a federal grand jury, a federal jury for sexual abuse,” Ellis continued. “This court in the interest of consistency extends its call for resignation and apology to the White House as well.”

Instead of this initial idea, Ellis proposed a narrower motion: to pass the first four “whereas” statements of the resolution while removing the fifth paragraph, which called for County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s resignation. Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones seconded the motion, which passed.

Ramsey argued that this approach deflected from the issue at hand.

“You can bring up other politicians and other things. That’s a nice method, I guess,” Ramsey said. “But really, the issue is the rodeo. And the rodeo was insulted... Can we at least say we don’t agree with she said about the rodeo?”

The vote effectively shifted the resolution’s focus away from holding Hidalgo accountable for a March 10 incident at NRG Stadium, where she alleges she was mistreated by rodeo security, and toward celebrating the contributions of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

The post Ellis was referring to

The post at the center of Ellis’ argument was shared on Truth Social on Feb. 5. It was a 55-second, AI-generated video featuring various politicians depicted as safari animals, with The Tokens’ 1961 song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” playing in the background.

The video depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.

The post also featured many other public who have been regarded as opponents to Trump such as Hillary Clinton, Gavin Newsom and Whoopi Goldberg—each of whom were also depicted in unflattering ways.

In the bizarre video, Trump himself was depicted as a lion, with a tiny, Trump-likened cartoon of Pepe the Frog walking alongside him.

After the post was met with backlash, President Trump refused to apologize, calling the video “a very strong post [discussing] voter fraud” that illustrated characters from the Lion King.

Trump also confirmed he hadn’t watched the full video before it was posted from his account, saying that his team didn’t know the Obamas were being shown in that manner before the video was posted.

“Nobody knew that was at the end,” Trump said the following day. “If they would have looked, they would have seen it, and probably, they would have had the sense to take it down.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt discredited the discourse around the video and the Obamas’ depictions, calling it “fake outrage.”

“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.”