President Donald Trump hammered South African President Cyril Ramaphosa repeatedly over unfounded claims the country discriminates against white farmers during a bilateral White House meeting on Wednesday.
“Death, death, death, horrible death,” Trump said, while pointing to printouts of alleged news stories documenting attacks on white farmers. “White South Africans are fleeing because of the violence and racist laws.”
That exchange marked one of many in which Trump has cited different pieces of media, from video to images, that he says back up his allegations of racial animus toward white farmers.
Ramaphosa — and other South African officials — have vehemently pushed back on the idea that white farmers are being persecuted by the country’s government or disproportionately attacked, calling the narrative a “false” one.
Experts, too, have disputed the suggestion, noting that crime rates are high in the country but that there’s little evidence white farmers are disproportionately attacked compared to Black farmers.
