Former President Barack Obama broke his silence this week after a racist video circulating in pro-Trump circles depicted him and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes — responding with a rare but pointed condemnation of what he called a “deeply troubling” erosion of political decency. Rather than lashing out, Obama addressed the controversy in his trademark measured tone, framing the episode as part of a broader moral decline in American public life. In an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, part of the “Pod Save America” team, he warned that too many political leaders and influencers have abandoned “basic standards of shame, dignity and respect” in favor of attention-grabbing cruelty. “The majority of Americans still believe in decency,” Obama said, adding that the normalization of racist and dehumanizing content reflects a dangerous loss of civic responsibility. The racist video, which briefly appeared on social media linked to allies of President Donald Trump, drew swift condemnation for invoking racist tropes with a long history of dehumanizing Black Americans. While Trump claimed ignorance the clip and blamed …