Whose moral decline is it anyway?

DONALD Trump recently boasted that the only thing restraining him was his own morality.

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

That claim barely survived even casual scrutiny at the time. After his latest despicable act, it has been smashed beyond repair.

At least you would think.

When the account in the name of the US leader shared a racist video depicting Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as apes, it was the amplification of one of the oldest and most brutal racist tropes, imagery used to strip black people of their humanity and justify slavery, segregation and lynching, broadcast from the highest office in the United States.

It should have prompted an immediate, unconditional apology. Instead, Trump deleted the post and washed his hands of it, blaming a member of staff for posting it to his social media site.

That reaction matters more than the video itself. Deletion without contrition is not leadership; it is cowardice. Pathetically, he insisted he had nothing to apologise for.