South Africa: what's behind Trump's ‘genocide’ claim?
US President Donald Trump confronted his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa with claims about the systematic murder of white farmers in South Africa during a White House meeting last week. The 'evidence' he presented is controversial: according to Reuters news agency, one of the images used to back up the accusations was a still from a video of a mass burial in the Democratic Republic of Congo. European commentators weigh in.
Truth is being trampled on
De Volkskrant criticises the US president for spreading malicious disinformation:
“All of this fits in with his rebuke of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House last week, with a fake story about a 'genocide' against white South Africans. ... The US president is making a fabricated racist conspiracy theory the focus of his foreign policy. This is worse than the disinformation he is known for. This is extreme right-wing disinformation. ... For the radical or even extreme right-wing international movement, truth is not a requirement. Unfortunately, the US president is also part of this movement.”
Ambiguous stance on Apartheid
Trump's provocative move shows how far away the new right has moved from liberal values, La Vanguardia observes:
“Trump is surrounded by people who are obsessed with South Africa (Elon Musk, David Sacks, Peter Thiel). They have an ambiguous stance on Apartheid and on what they want for the US, a country where the racial issue is always latent. ... The US president's provocation unintentionally reveals concerns about the future of the white minority in the US, where 'non-whites' will soon form the majority. And it reflects the values of the new right, which is moving away from the liberalism from which it developed.”
A humiliation for Washington
Trump is degrading the US and damaging democracy, Le Temps writes:
“As was the case with Volodymyr Zelensky, some commentators saw this spectacle as a deliberate act of humiliation, this time with Cyril Ramaphosa taking the flack. Yet precisely the opposite is the case. Each of these confrontations with 'friendly' states, each of these admissions of weakness towards dictatorships adds to the US's humiliation in the eyes of the rest of the world - and further erodes trust in democratic systems. On Wednesday it was South Africa that saved the day.”