Former United States President Barack Obama has stated that many Americans find Donald Trump’s posting of an AI-generated video depicting him and his wife Michelle as monkeys ‘deeply troubling.’

Mr Obama disclosed this during an appearance on a podcast hosted by Brian Tyler Cohen, where he responded to the incident for the first time.

In the video posted on Mr Trump’s Truth Social, Mrs Obama had her head imposed on a black monkey’s body, while her husband had his head imposed on a brown monkey’s body.

Speaking about the video, Mr Obama called the situation a distraction by Mr Trump to get attention, noting that the majority of Americans still believe in decency and courtesy.

“You know, it is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction. But, you know, as I’m travelling around the country, as you’re travelling around the country, you meet people,” the former American leader said.

“They still believe in decency, courtesy, and kindness. And there’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television.”

Commenting further, Mr Obama stated that the sense of shame has been lost under the Trump administration, which he said was once the campaigner for decorum that comes with the president’s office.

“And what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum. And a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? So that’s been lost.

“It is important to recognise that the majority of the American people find this behaviour deeply troubling,” the politician added.