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South Africans Bristle Over Alleged Trump Comments on Mandela

Anita Powell

   JOHANNESBURG - South Africans are angry about comments that U.S.
   President Donald Trump allegedly made in private about South African
   icon Nelson Mandela, the nation's first black president and Nobel Peace
   laureate. The alleged comments -- which Trump denies -- are full of
   profanity and include Trump saying of Mandela, "he was no leader," and
   are part of a tell-all book by indicted former Trump lawyer Michael
   Cohen.

   President Trump's alleged comments about South African icon Nelson
   Mandela are ruffling feathers in the Rainbow Nation, with the beloved
   leader's grandson sharply criticizing Trump for his leadership and with
   ordinary South Africans clamoring to the defense of the leader many
   here simply call Tata, or father.

   Trump's comments, as put forward in a book by his former lawyer Michael
   Cohen, were reported by American media over the weekend and were
   strongly denied by the White House. Cohen was convicted in 2018 of a
   slew of charges including campaign-finance violations, tax crimes and
   making false statements.

   White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany issued a statement over the
   weekend that said Cohen lacked credibility and noted he was a disgraced
   felon found guilty of lying to Congress.

   According to the book, Trump said shortly after Mandela's 2013 death
   that the former South African president was "no leader." The other
   reported comments include an expletive Trump has allegedly used to
   describe African countries, plus slurs against Black people.

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