Donald Trump drew fierce condemnation after sharing disturbing footage on his Truth Social platform of a man being attacked by a tiger, after entering its enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster, in northern England, this weekend.
William Chapman died from his injuries.
His family revealed he had “suffered from significant mental illness over a number of years and was consequently prescribed strong medication.”
Trump on Tuesday shared footage of part of the attack with his millions of followers on Truth Social, captioning the clip: “Don’t ever mess with nature!”
He signed the post with his own name.
The White House also shared the clip on X.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
The president followed up shortly afterward with another video featuring a montage that appeared to show people being attacked by lions, accompanied by upbeat music. At least some of the clips appeared to be AI-generated.
Trump later shared an AI-generated video depicting himself tackling what appeared to be the same big cat that killed Chapman as it attempted to attack him, before playfighting with the animal, set to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
The posts prompted disgust and condemnation on social media, where many critics suggested it amounted to the president sharing a “snuff” video.
“You people are sick in the fucking head,” wrote one critic.
“It’s pretty sick you posting this,” said another.
“Why the fuck would you post a man being mauled? Holy shit, you’re unhinged,” another person wrote.