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JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s ruling party on Tuesday condemned “disparaging remarks” attributed to US President Donald Trump about the country’s late first black president, Nelson Mandela.
In a memoir to be released this week, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen accused the president of making racist comments about black leaders, including his predecessor Barack Obama and South African anti-apartheid icon Mandela.
The Washington Post reported on the alleged racism over the weekend after obtaining a copy of the book prior to publication.
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According to the Post, Cohen quotes Trump as saying he did not consider Mandela a “real leader” and praising the white minority rule in South Africa’s apartheid.
The country’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), on Tuesday expressed outrage at Trump’s alleged “disparaging remarks.”
“All the freedom-loving people of the world are horrified by these insults … from a person who, in himself, is not a model of competent leadership,” the ANC said in a statement.
“Trump is a divisive, misogynistic and disrespectful person,” he added, noting that Mandela was in “stark contrast to Trump” and “understood the value of international friendship.”
Meanwhile, the Nelson Mandela Foundation has “pointed out” the comments attributed to the US president.
In a statement Monday, the Foundation said that “leaders who behave the way Trump does” were not in a good position to offer “authoritative comments” on Mandela’s life and work.
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White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany responded by describing Cohen as a “disgraced criminal” and a “disbarred attorney.”
“He has lost all credibility and it is not surprising to see his latest attempt to profit from the lies,” McEnany said in an emailed statement to AFP on Tuesday in reaction to the ANC’s comments.
Mandela was elected in 1994 after nearly three decades in prison for leading a political fight against the apartheid regime, which officially ended that year.
The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is widely hailed as a hero of the South African liberation movement.
Mandela resigned after five years in office and later retired from political life.
He died in December 2013 at the age of 95.
