Trump backs South Africa ‘white genocide' claims with Congo footage
Trump showed the image during a White House meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, holding up a printout of an article that featured a screengrab from the footage, which Reuters said it originally published on February 3.
According to the news agency, the video shows humanitarian workers handling body bags in Goma, one of the main cities in eastern Congo captured by M23 rebels amid intense fighting in late January.
The screengrab appeared in a blog post by conservative outlet American Thinker, which discussed conflicts in both South Africa and the DRC, but did not caption the image.
'These are all white farmers that are being buried,' Trump said.
'You have hundreds of people, thousands of people trying to come into our country because they feel they're going to be killed and their land is going to be confiscated. And you do have laws that were passed that give you the right to confiscate land,' he claimed.
Andrea Widburg, the managing editor at American Thinker and author of the post, told Reuters that Trump 'misidentified the image.' She said the article raised concerns about 'increasing pressure placed on white South Africans.'
Ramaphosa's visit to Washington was aimed at repairing diplomatic ties amid heightened tensions with the US over land policy, foreign affairs, and Trump's accusations of discrimination against the white minority.
During the meeting, the US president played a five-minute montage that included clips of South African political figures and images he claimed show graves of white farmers.
Ramaphosa rejected the claims, stating that South Africa is a multi-party democracy and that crime affects all communities. 'There's no genocide in South Africa. That is a fact that's borne out of a lot of evidence,' he said, adding that those shown in the video were not part of his government.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
4 minutes ago
- Russia Today
Russia had no preference in 2016 US election
Russia did not favor Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 US presidential election and the administration of then-President Barack Obama was well aware of that, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard has said. Since mid-July, Gabbard has released multiple documents which allegedly expose a coordinated effort by senior Obama-era officials to falsely accuse Trump of colluding with Russia and delegitimize his first election win. During an appearance on the Hannity program on Fox News on Tuesday, Gabbard insisted that 'the intelligence community assessed in the months leading up to that 2016 election that, yes, Russia was trying to interfere in our election by sowing discord and chaos, but stating over and over again that Russia did not appear to have any preference for one candidate over the other.' At the time, Moscow viewed both Trump and Clinton 'as equally bad for Russia's interest,' she said. 'The big shift – that happened around what is now commonly known as 'Russiagate' – was after the election,' Gabbard claimed. In early December 2016, Obama called a meeting of his national security council leadership, telling then-DNI James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan to come up with a new 'politicized and weaponized fake intelligence' assessment, claiming that 'Russia, [President Vladimir] Putin did try to interfere in the election because he wanted Trump to win,' she alleged. Russiagate was the 'real crime' by Obama officials against the American people because it undermined their votes, Gabbard stressed. Earlier on Tuesday, Gabbard announced that her office had stripped security clearances from 37 current and former US intelligence officials, including Clapper, for allegedly politicizing and manipulating intelligence. Trump said earlier that all those behind the Russiagate hoax should pay a 'big price' for what he labeled a deliberate attempt to sabotage his presidency. Moscow has consistently denied any interference in the 2016 election, with Russian officials calling the US accusations a product of partisan infighting. The Russiagate scandal severely strained US-Russia relations, resulting in sanctions, asset seizures, and a breakdown in diplomatic engagement.
Russia Today
34 minutes ago
- Russia Today
Musk shoots down WSJ claim he's abandoned his political party plans
Elon Musk has dismissed a Wall Street Journal report claiming that he is quietly backing away from plans to launch his America Party. The newspaper said Musk had told allies he will focus on his businesses and not risk splitting Republican voters with a third-party bid. Musk supported US President Donald Trump in the 2024 election and temporarily served as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) before a public falling-out over the president's 'Big Beautiful Bill' spending package. After resigning, he announced he would start his own political faction to challenge the two-party system and field candidates in the 2026 midterms. On Tuesday, however, the WSJ reported that Musk had allegedly told allies he would instead concentrate on his companies and avoid alienating Republicans by siphoning away GOP votes. Commenting on the report, Musk wrote on X that 'nothing WSJ says should ever be thought of as true.' He did not address the outlet's claims. The WSJ also stated that the billionaire has been maintaining ties with Vice President J.D. Vance, viewed as a potential heir to Trump, and has considered using his resources to back Vance's 2028 presidential bid. It noted that Musk has not formally ruled out forming a party and could change his mind as the midterm elections near. Musk had previously also accused the paper of publishing 'deliberately false' stories, calling it a 'discredit to journalism' and 'the worst newspaper in the world.' 'I wouldn't use that to line my cage for parrot droppings,' the billionaire said of the WSJ earlier this year. Last month, Musk outlined a plan for the America Party to concentrate on Congress ahead of the 2026 midterms, writing that while 'backing a candidate for president is not out of the question,' the party's 'focus for the next 12 months is on the House and the Senate.' Trump, meanwhile, has called Musk a 'train wreck' and argued that third parties 'have never succeeded in the US,' predicting that the billionaire's initiative would only create 'disruption and chaos.'
Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
Russia ready to upgrade level of direct talks with Kiev
Russia is ready to raise the status of its delegation-level peace negotiations with Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has announced. His remarks followed a summit between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Alaska last week. DETAILS TO FOLLOW
