The South African President was invited to the White House to discuss trade, but instead, Trump repeated false claims.
“We’ve had tremendous complaints about Africa, about other countries, too, from people,” Trump said Wednesday, looking at Ramaphosa next to him. “They say there’s a lot of bad things going on in Africa. And that’s what we’re going to be discussing today.”
Trump continued: “People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety… their land is being confiscated and in many cases they’re being killed.” But President Ramaphosa pushed back against Mr Trump’s accusations.
At the White House meeting in front of reporters, Trump played a video purporting to show South Africans chanting “kill the Boer, kill the farmer”.
Barney Mthombothi, a columnist for the Sunday Times, had this take:
“The whole idea that White South Africans are being oppressed is so scandalous, it’s offensive to Black people who have been oppressed for centuries,” Mthombothi said.