Twitter removed a video President Donald Trump‘s son Eric Trump posted on Wednesday. The clip was a doctored video of the University of North Carolina men’s basketball coach Roy Williams, with the president’s head on Williams’ body and other Republican figures replacing players. The video even edited red Make America Great Again hats onto players’ heads. UNC and players condemned the video, and Williams has long been a critic of Trump’s rhetoric.
Eric shared the video on Wednesday morning, adding the caption, “Backstage last night at the #RNC.” The video took a clip from Williams’ locker room celebration with players after UNC beat Duke on March 5, 2016. Trump’s head was placed on Williams’ body, and Donald Trump Jr., Eric, commentator Terrence K. Williams and rapper Kanye West were edited into the clip. Twitter later removed the video, replacing it with the message, “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.” Eric has also deleted the tweet.
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UNC Senior Associate Athletic Director Steve Kirschner told the News & Observer the video was shared without the university’s permission. “First, our players, coaches, and staff support the Milwaukee Bucks’ action to boycott yesterday’s playoff game, which had the backing of the NBA and other professional athletes, teams, and leagues,” Kirschner said. “We are proud of Marvin Williams, Danny Green, Kenny Smith, and our other Tar Heel alumni who chose to take this important step against continued racial injustice.” UNC is “profoundly disappointed that political messaging would be made using video without permission that shows our players, coach, and uniforms from inside our team’s locker room celebration,” Kirschner added.
Several former UNC players were quick to denounce the video Eric shared. “Take this BS photo-shopped video somewhere else,” Justin Watts tweeted. “Relax wrong squad,” Theo Pinson wrote. “Hell no. This a—!” Kennedy Meeks wrote. “I’m appalled,” Josh Reavis, an assistant director of creative services for UNC, wrote. “Wish there was some fair use law that we could use to shut it down. We’re all aware that would never work though.”
Williams has criticized President Trump in the past. At the 2017 ACC tournament, Williams said Trump “tweets out more bulls— than anybody I’ve ever seen.” After UNC won the 2017 NCAA national championship, the team did not travel to the White House, although they cited scheduling conflicts. At the time, Kirschner said players were “fine with going” and they “couldn’t find a date that worked out for both parties.”
