President Trump is pleading with voters to remember his policy wins after posting a racist AI-generated video depicting the Obamas as apes. The 79-year-old president took to Truth Social Friday evening to tout his rollback of Obama-era commercial fishing restrictions off New England, urging supporters to "VOTE REPUBLICAN IN THE MIDTERMS!"

Trump's Friday proclamation restores commercial fishing access to the 4,913-square-mile Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, established by Obama in 2016 to protect vulnerable undersea coral ecosystems. The area has consistently voted Democratic in presidential elections where Trump appeared on the ballot.

Trump's plea for midterm momentum comes as Democrats appear poised to dominate the GOP in November, with serious chances to win back both chambers of Congress. The president's poor polling on the economy and immigration - previously his strengths - has become an albatross for vulnerable Republican incumbents who now must defend their campaigns alongside their party leader's racist posts.

Some GOP politicians have broken from Trump on the controversy. Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts, up for reelection in 2026, unequivocally condemned the post, stating that "a reasonable person sees the racist context" and calling for the White House to apologize. The backlash has reportedly left House Republicans "besides themselves" about how to handle the controversy on the campaign trail.

Quick Fact: Trump rolled back Obama's Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument protections in 2020 before Biden restored them.