President Donald Trump is facing criticism on both sides of the Atlantic after sharing real footage of a deadly tiger attack in the United Kingdom, followed by an AI-generated video that critics say made light of the victim’s death. The family of the man who died has said the circulation of the material is causing them serious distress.
What Trump posted
On Tuesday, Trump put a video on his Truth Social account that showed a man being fatally mauled by a tiger at a wildlife park in Britain. The man was identified by the BBC as William Chapman. Police said he later died of his injuries after the incident on Saturday.
Later the same day, the president shared a second clip. This one was generated with artificial intelligence and showed Trump chasing a tiger, play fighting with it and eventually hugging it, all with a broad grin. The footage was set to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” In it, Trump copies a pointing gesture that Chapman had made in the original video. Trump captioned the post with a warning not to meddle with nature. Both videos went to his 13.1 million followers on the platform.
Family and local leaders respond
Relatives of Chapman, who lived in South Yorkshire, said the footage circulating online is deeply offensive and has caused them severe distress. They spoke out after Trump’s repost pushed the original video in front of a far larger audience.
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard issued a statement condemning the post. ITV News reported that Trump has been accused of mocking a man’s death for little more than a cheap laugh, only four days after Chapman died. Euronews described the reaction on social media as a backlash, with some users calling the content sick.
A pattern of provocative posts
This is not the first time the president’s social media activity has caused an uproar. Euronews noted that he has previously shared AI-generated videos that mocked marginalised groups. He also posted an image of himself styled as Jesus Christ, which he deleted after religious groups objected.
The outlet also pointed to one view of how Trump approaches such controversies: that he treats people who take offence as lacking a sense of humour and unable to accept a joke. Trump has not, based on the available reporting, withdrawn either of the tiger-related videos or addressed the family’s concerns.
Why it matters
The episode shows how quickly footage of a private tragedy can spread once a high-profile account amplifies it, and how little control grieving families have over that process. It also lands at a busy moment for the president, who is touring the country holding rallies ahead of the midterm elections. Every post he makes tends to draw close attention, and this one has drawn criticism from officials and the public in the country where the attack happened.
For Chapman’s relatives, the focus is on the loss of their family member and on the continued circulation of footage of his final moments. Their appeal highlights a broader question about the responsibility of public figures when sharing graphic content from real-life tragedies.
Source: The Guardian, with additional reporting from Euronews and ITV News
