“I was insulted by this comment from Trump,” reacts a liberal youth advocate
“Where did you learn to speak so well?” Trump was surprised by the “good English” of an African president
by Mitchell McCluskey e Larry MadowoCNN
United States President Donald Trump praised Liberia President Joseph Boakai on Wednesday for his strong mastery of the English language. But the African leader was educated in Liberia, where English is the official language.
While receiving five African leaders in the White House, Trump asked Boakai: “What a good English, is beautiful. Where did you learn to speak so well?”
Boakai reported Trump from his teaching site, leading him to manifest his curiosity. “This is very interesting,” he said, “I have people on this table who can’t talk so well.”
Liberia was founded in 1822 by the American Society of Colonization, whose objective was to reinstall slaves released in Africa. The country declared independence from the American Society of Colonization in 1847 and currently a variety of languages is spoken, the English is the official language.
Several liberals were offended by Trump’s comment to Boakai, taking into account US president’s previous comments about African countries and the colonial legacy left by the US organization in Liberia.
“I was insulted because our country is an English-speaking country,” Archie Tamel Harris, a liberal youth defender, told CNN.
“For him, asking this question is not a compliment. I feel that the US president and people in the West still see Africans as people of villages who have no education.”
A liberal diplomat who asked not to be identified told CNN that the comment “was not appropriate.” The diplomat added that “he was a little condescending to an African president who is from an English language nation.”
Veronica Mind, a South African policy, questioned in the X: “What prevents [Boakai] to get up and leave? ”
The White House press office defended Trump’s statement on Wednesday.
“I was at the meeting and everyone deeply appreciated the president’s time and effort. The African continent has never had a friend in the White House as it has at President Trump,” Trump’s senior administration senior counselor for Africa told CNN.
White House Vice Secretary Anna Kelly said Trump’s comment was a “sincere compliment” and “journalists must recognize that President Trump has done more to restore global stability and raise countries in Africa and around the world than Joe Biden has done in four years.”
Liberian Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti told CNN that “there was no offense” from the Libertian President’s perspective and that “many people do not understand the linguistic borders or linguistic demography of the African continent.”
“What President Trump listened clearly was the American influence in our English in Liberia, and the Libertarian president was not offended by it,” said Nyanti.
“We know that English has different accents and shapes, so the fact that it has captured the distinct intonation that has its roots in American English for us was just the recognition of a family version of English,” he added.
Trump has previously applauded the English knowledge of other leaders during diplomatic meetings. During a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump praised his “good English” and asked him if it was as good as his German.
Merz laughed and noted that he tries to “understand almost everything” and said he makes an effort “to speak the best possible.”
The US president focused on the English language as part of his “America First” platform. During a presidential debate in 2015, Trump said the US is “a country where English is spoken.” In March, he signed an executive order that made English the official language of the US.
Trump has been in bad sheets for things he said about the African nations. In 2018, the president referred to migrants from African countries and other nations as come from “shit countries”.
In May, he gave a lesson to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa about the false allegations that South African white farmers are victims of a genocide.
Trump adopted a different tone on Wednesday, when he met with Gabon leaders, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal, praising their countries as “all very vibrant places with very valuable lands, large minerals, large oil deposits and wonderful people.”
In turn, he was received with approval by African leaders, who praised the president, installing him to invest in his countries and to develop his abundant natural resources.
Boakai even stated that Liberia “(believes) in the policy of making America big again.”
CNN Samantha Waldenberg contributed to this news.
Translated with the free version of the translator – Deepl.com
