JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa summoned the United States’ senior diplomat in Pretoria on Monday over President Donald Trump’s recent disparaging comments about African nations and Haiti.
Trump has been accused of describing African nations as “shithole countries” during a meeting with U.S. senators last week. He has denied making the statements, as well as the ensuing accusations that he is racist.
South African foreign ministry officials met the U.S. chargé d’affaires and other U.S. Embassy officials in the capital to express South African concerns about Trump’s reported comments, the ministry said in a statement.
“It was noted that Africa and the African diaspora has contributed significantly to the United States and to its development into the country that it is today, and that the African and international reaction to the alleged statements clearly serve as a united affirmation of the dignity of the people of Africa and the African diaspora,” the ministry said.
The meeting provided an opportunity for the U.S. Embassy to reiterate its “commitment to working with South Africa to achieve shared goals and strengthen our bilateral ties,” embassy spokeswoman Cindy Harvey said in a statement. “We remain committed to working together to realize the promise of a more peaceful, more productive, more prosperous South Africa.”
Trump’s comments were met with widespread consternation in Africa, with an African Union spokeswoman saying the union was “frankly alarmed.”
“Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice,” AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo said. The governments of Namibia and Botswana have also condemned the comments.
I’d rather have one of Donnie’s trolls try to explain it to Trevor Noah…
Well I must admit the irony here is really thick since we were one of the principle nations that embargoed South Africa all those years because of apartheid.
And my disgust is complete at being embarrassed by South Africa for being racist. Certainly they understand the problem since they faced theirs squarely, ultimately.
That really is the kicker isn’t it?
I have to say I don’t think it gets any more than this. They can always prove me wrong, but damn.
[TL;DR: I think Trump can go lower, but we as a country will survive because Fuck No this isn’t us, or the “U.S.”]
I don’t know what word got left out at the [?], but I’m not sure it matters. “Depressing”, “disgusting”, “embarrassing”, “deplorable”, “racist”, “shithole-ish”…doesn’t matter. I fear that we’ve a ways to go before “the bottom”. In fact I think that Trump’s very nature requires him to sink ever lower until he is out of office. His base will shrink until it a singularity of hatred, resentment, victimhood, and literal Nazis at which point even laughable hand-waving like “I am the least racist person you will ever interview” will be abandoned. I would not be surprised if that whole “3/5ths vote” thing tries to make a comeback with this administration.
No nuclear war. That was my threshold for “success” for the Trump Presidency back in November 2016. Anything “above” nuclear war is possible, IMO. We just filled in the “blatant racism in policy discussion” box on the BINGO card, is all.There are infinite boxes left…
Having emo’d all of that, I should say that nevertheless I’m optimistic. #MeToo is the latest signal (IMO) that the rise of Trump has not only emboldened The Deplorables™, but also the “Oh Fuck No” contingent. People got a little complacent through the 8 years of No-Drama Obama, and Cheeto Mussolini has been a real kick in the 'nads. The country as a whole is deteriorating, but the country in its parts is rising up here and there, in non-trivial numbers (see e.g. Virginia, Alabama). So I have hope.
If you watched Rachel Maddow’s broadcast after the “shithole” comment, her A-block started with her just being exasperated at all the monumentally stupid shit that she and her writers have to let go because of bigger, more pressing stupid shit that overshadows it. The look on her face and exasperation in her tone, combined with her nevertheless hopeful disposition, kinda mirrors how I feel.