A stunning scene unfolded in the White House on Wednesday when President Donald Trump pulled a surprise on the president of South Africa, forcing him and the entire White House press pool to watch a panoply of clips depicting members of his political party advocating for the killing of white farmers.
The visit by Cyril Ramaphosa comes shortly after the Trump administration granted refugee status to white farmers fleeing violence in South Africa, but not without political repercussions. Democrats and other critics of the administration have accused Trump of giving quarter to white farmers while expelling black and brown refugees as part of his mass deportation agenda. Others have downplayed the lethal severity of threats against the white South Africans.
Trump appeared to put that liberal theory to rest shortly after sitting down with Ramaphosa.
“Turn the lights down. Turn the lights down and just put this on,” the president said before a TV in the Oval Office played a succession of clips.
“At some point there must be killing, because killing is part of the revolution!” screams one member of the African National Congress Party. Another can be seen shouting on the floor of South Africa’s Parliament that