[Nelson Mandela\Donald Trump]
Ndaba Mandela: “Donald Trump is the last person to speak about Nelson Mandela, or about leadership. Because he needs to look at the failure of his own leadership, because America is currently burning right now.”
Photo: YouTube
South Africans are angry about comments that Donald Trump allegedly made in private about South African icon Nelson Mandela, the nation’s first Black president, since the end of Apartheid rule, and a Nobel Peace laureate.
The alleged comments — which Trump denies — are full of profanity and include Trump saying of Mandela, “he was no leader,” and are part of a tell-all book by indicted former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
President Trump’s alleged comments about South African icon Nelson Mandela are ruffling feathers in the Rainbow Nation, with the beloved leader’s grandson sharply criticizing Trump for his leadership and with ordinary South Africans clamoring to the defense of the leader many here simply call Tata, or father.
Trump’s comments, as put forward in a book by his former lawyer Michael Cohen, were reported by American media over the weekend and were strongly denied by the White House. Cohen was convicted in 2018 of a slew of charges including campaign-finance violations, tax crimes and making false statements.
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany issued a statement over the weekend that said Cohen lacked credibility and noted he was a disgraced felon found guilty of lying to Congress.
According to the book, Trump said shortly after Mandela’s 2013 death that the former South African president was “no leader.” The other reported comments include an expletive Trump has allegedly used to describe African countries, plus slurs against Black people.
Mandela’s grandson Ndaba Mandela spoke exclusively to VOA on Google Hangouts shortly after the comments began to spread through South African news.
“Donald Trump is the last person to speak about Nelson Mandela, or about leadership. Because he needs to look at the failure of his own leadership, because America is currently burning right now. You know, there have been several Black Lives Matter movements across the country where people have been rioting, people have been burning, stores and you name it and protest after continuous killing of black people by their police,” he said.
The Mandela Foundation, in a statement this week, said, “we do not believe that leaders who conduct themselves in the way Mr. Trump does are in a position to offer authoritative commentary on (Mandela’s) life and work.”
Read rest of story here:https://www.voanews.com/africa/south-africans-bristle-over-alleged-trump-comments-mandela
