South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has condemned Donald Trump after his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen alleged that the US president had made disparaging remarks about anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
“Trump is a divisive, misogynistic and disrespectful person ever to occupy the office of the President,” the ANC said.
In contrast, Mr Mandela had stood as a unifying leader, who “reached out to the world and sought to bring peace and a just society”, the party added.
Mr Mandela was a leader of the ANC and spent more than 27 years in prison for fighting minority rule in South Africa.
He became the country’s first black president in 1994, about four years after his release from prison and promoted reconciliation with the minority white population.
He stepped down as president in 1999, and died in 2013 aged 95.
In his new book, Disloyal: A Memoir, Mr Cohen said Mr Trump had described Mr Mandela as “no leader”
“Tell me one country run by a black person that isn’t a shithole. They are all complete [expletive] toilets,” Mr Trump once said, according to Cohen.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation has said it did not believe that “leaders who conduct themselves in the way Mr Trump does are in a position to offer authoritative commentary on the life and work of Madiba”.
“Reflecting on leadership, Madiba once said: ‘A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don’t have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.’ We would recommend these words to Mr Trump for consideration,”
The White House says the lawyer is lying.
BBC
