The African National Congress (ANC), in power in South Africa, on Tuesday condemned the “derogatory remarks” and “insults” attributed to US President Donald Trump towards the first black South African president, Nelson Mandela.
In briefs due for publication this week, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen accuses the US president of racist remarks against several black leaders, including his predecessor Barack Obama but also the anti-icon. apartheid.
According to the Washington Post, which obtained the correct sheets of this book, Cohen quotes Donald Trump as saying that Mandela is “not a real leader” and describes him praising the apartheid regime.
“All freedom-loving peoples are appalled by these insults (..) coming from a person who is not, himself, a model of competent leadership,” the ANC said in a statement.
“Trump is a divisive, misogynistic and disrespectful man,” continues the ANC, noting the “stark contrast” between the latter and Mandela who “understood the value of international friendships.”
The Nelson Mandela Foundation, for its part, said that “leaders who behave like Mr. Trump” are not well placed to offer “authoritative comments” on the life and work of Mandela.
Asked by AFP, the White House spokeswoman described Mr. Cohen as a “disgraced criminal” and a “barred lawyer” from the bar: “He has lost all credibility and it is not surprising to witness this latest attempt to profit from his lies, ”Kayleigh McEnany said in an email Tuesday morning to AFP.
Nelson Mandela was elected president in 1994 after nearly three decades in prison for his fight against the racist apartheid regime.
The Nobel Prize retired from political life five years later. He died in 2013 at the age of 95.