Liberia says not offended by Trump gaffe to president
Liberian President Joseph Boakai (second from right) meeting US President Donald Trump at the White House on July 9 with other African leaders.
MONROVIA - Liberia's president was 'honoured' to meet US counterpart Donald Trump this week and wasn't offended by Mr Trump's comment about his fluency in English – his mother tongue – Liberia's foreign minister said.
The US president's gaffe has even inspired a catchy tribute song in the west African country, Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti told AFP on the evening of July 11.
Mr Trump praised President Joseph Boakai on July 9 on his English-speaking skills, apparently unaware that English is the official language of Liberia.
Responding to remarks Mr Boakai made at a White House mini-summit alongside the presidents of five mineral-rich, French-speaking countries in west Africa, the US leader said: 'Such good English... Where were you educated?'
Mr Boakai – who, like most Liberians, speaks English as a first language – laughed uncomfortably and replied he had been educated in his home country.
'We were honoured by the White House's invitation to President Boakai for a meeting with President Trump and fellow African leaders,' Ms Nyanti said.
'No offence was taken.'
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She said Liberia was keen to strengthen ties with the United States, 'built on mutual respect'.
Liberia is the oldest republic in sub-Saharan Africa.
It was founded in 1822 when the American Colonisation Society, funded by the US Congress and slaveholders, began sending freed slaves to its shores.
Thousands of 'Americo-Liberian' settlers followed.
They declared independence in 1847 and set up a government to rule over the native African majority.
English is the official language and the most widely used throughout the country.
Liberian Foreign Minister Sara Frances Nyanti told AFP the country's president was honoured to meet his US counterpart.
PHOTO: AFP
English King of Africa
In response to Mr Trump's faux pas, singer and former cultural ambassador Queen Juli Endee penned a song in tribute to Mr Boakai.
'We salute JNB, our black president, Beautiful English King of Africa,' she and her band sing in a video widely shared on social media.
The clip shows them waving US flags and wearing T-shirts bearing the images of Mr Boakai and Mr Trump.
Liberians, meanwhile, voiced mixed reactions.
Mr Shadrach Johnson, unemployed, welcomed the fact Mr Boakai had been among the small number of African leaders invited to the summit.
'He went there and spoke on behalf of the Liberian people. It's progress,' he told AFP.
But street trader Patience Allison said Mr Trump had insulted her head of state and sought to provoke.
'For him to ask that question, it is almost like you are making fun... He was really making fun of our president,' she said. AFP
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