{"id":3872,"date":"2026-05-28T13:39:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/28\/true-patriot-white-house-pays-bizarre-tribute-to-harambe-10-years-after-gorillas-death\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T13:39:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:39:39","slug":"true-patriot-white-house-pays-bizarre-tribute-to-harambe-10-years-after-gorillas-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=3872","title":{"rendered":"\u2018True patriot\u2019: White House pays bizarre tribute to Harambe 10 years after gorilla\u2019s death"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"607f103c-1d39-4a88-995c-ae0036db6b26\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"visitors entering a zoo next to a sign that says 'gorilla world'\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/d0a3002772e682a4361dc5604035726a66d7222a\/0_92_4626_2776\/master\/4626.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"279.0402075226978\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Visitors enter the Gorilla World exhibit at the Cincinnati zoo and botanical garden in June 2016.<\/span> Photograph: John Minchillo\/AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"607f103c-1d39-4a88-995c-ae0036db6b26\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Visitors enter the Gorilla World exhibit at the Cincinnati zoo and botanical garden in June 2016.<\/span> Photograph: John Minchillo\/AP<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">\u2018True patriot\u2019: White House pays bizarre tribute to Harambe 10 years after gorilla\u2019s death<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>White House made lengthy post about gorilla shot dead at Cincinnati zoo after a toddler entered his enclosure in 2016<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2026\/feb\/17\/sign-up-for-the-breaking-news-us-email-to-get-newsletter-alerts-direct-to-your-inbox?utm_medium=ACQUISITIONS_STANDFIRST&amp;utm_campaign=BN22326&amp;utm_content=signup&amp;utm_term=standfirst&amp;utm_source=GUARDIAN_WEB\" data-link-name=\"in standfirst link\">Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The White House has posted on social media a tribute to mark Thursday\u2019s 10th anniversary of the death of a figure it called \u201ca true patriot\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The hero was not a human, however; it concerned the infamous case of the 400lb western lowland gorilla that had been named Harambe, which was shot dead at the Cincinnati zoo after a toddler entered his enclosure and interacted with the animal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/whitehouse\/status\/2059779450275864710?s=46\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">lengthy post<\/a> on Wednesday evening, what would have been the primate\u2019s 27th birthday, the official government account mourned \u201can icon that became part of internet history, American culture, and an entire generation\u2019s timeline\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Security staff at the zoo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2016\/may\/29\/gorilla-shot-killed-after-grabbing-toddler-at-ohio-zoo-cincinnati\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">shot and killed<\/a> the male silverback on 28 May 2016 after the boy, three-year-old Isaiah Dickerson, climbed a fence, crawled through a hedge, and dropped 15ft into the enclosure holding Harambe and fellow gorillas. Video captured the gorilla pulling the boy, who received only minor injuries, through water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The incident became a viral <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2016\/aug\/12\/harambe-the-meme-that-refused-to-die\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">internet sensation<\/a>, prompting memes, tributes both fake and real, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cosmopolitan.com\/politics\/a8354653\/dicks-out-for-harambe-internets-most-fascinating\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">music<\/a> and poetry, and calls for sports teams to be renamed for Harambe. It also sparked safety improvements at the zoo, which reopened its gorilla enclosure a year later with higher walls and other barriers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Wednesday\u2019s bizarre 123-word memorial post to the animal by the White House, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-silent-former-vice-president-dick-cheneys-death-2025-11-04\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">remained silent<\/a> when the former Republican vice-president <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/dick-cheney\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Dick Cheney<\/a> died in November, evoked that aftermath.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cHe became a symbol of loyalty, strength, chaos, unity, and the strange beauty of the internet bringing millions of people together for one cause: never forgetting Harambe,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cEveryone remembers where they were when they heard the news. And somehow, a decade later, his legacy still lives on. Gone, but never forgotten. Rest easy to a true patriot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Harambe was born in captivity at a zoo in Brownsville, Texas, in May 1999.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Soon after the 2016 incident, Donald Trump, then a presidential candidate, spoke of how it was \u201cso beautiful to watch\u201d Harambe with the child.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt was almost like a mother holding a baby \u2026 looked so beautiful and calm, and there were moments where [it] looked pretty dangerous,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reel\/10153502799162541\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">told reporters<\/a> at a press conference, adding that he would not criticize zoo staff for opening fire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cI don\u2019t think they had a choice,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have a child, a young child is at stake, and you know it\u2019s too bad there wasn\u2019t another way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/trump-administration\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Trump administration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/world\/zoos\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Zoos<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/ohio\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Ohio<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/world\/animals\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Animals<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=%E2%80%98True%20patriot%E2%80%99:%20White%20House%20pays%20bizarre%20tribute%20to%20Harambe%2010%20years%20after%20gorilla%E2%80%99s%20death&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/28\/white-house-harambe-tribute?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F28%2Fwhite-house-harambe-tribute&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/28\/white-house-harambe-tribute\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Visitors enter the Gorilla World exhibit at the Cincinnati zoo and botanical garden in June 2016. Photograph: John<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}