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The president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images
- The Nelson Mandela Foundation has responded to comments attributed to Donald Trump in his former attorney’s memoirs.
- He said he does not believe leaders like Trump are in a position to comment on Madiba’s life and work.
- Michael Cohen, in his book, alleges that Trump thought little of Mandela.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation has responded to disparaging remarks attributed to US President Donald Trump involving the late South African statesman.
In a brief statement on Monday, the foundation said it did not believe that leaders who behaved the way Trump did were “in a position to offer authoritative comments on Madiba’s life and work.”
“Reflecting on leadership, Madiba once said: ‘A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that in the end he and the other party must be closer and therefore emerge stronger. No you get that idea when they’re arrogant, shallow, and uninformed. ‘
“We would recommend these words to Mr. Trump for his consideration.”
READ: ‘F — Mandela. He wasn’t a leader ‘: Trump’ despised African leaders, ‘says new book
Comments were attributed to the President of the United States about African leaders and former South African President Nelson Mandela in particular, in a book by Michael Cohen titled Unfair: a memory.
Cohen, who previously served as Trump’s attorney, alleges in his book that Trump had a “low opinion of all blacks,” The Washington Post reported.
According to the publication, Cohen wrote that after Mandela’s death, Trump allegedly said that he did not believe that Mandela “was a real leader, not the type that he respected.”
Cohen further writes that Trump praised the apartheid-era government in South Africa, apparently saying that Mandela “screwed up the whole country. Now he sucks. F — Mandela. He wasn’t a leader.”
