“A Badge of Honour”: Ebrahim Rasool Doubles Down on Trump White Supremacist Claim

He was expelled from the United States for saying it, but former South African ambassador Ebrahim Rasool is not backing down. In a fiery television interview, Rasool has doubled down on his assertion that President Donald Trump is mobilising a “white supremacist instinct,” framing his own diplomatic removal as a “badge of honour.”

Rasool, who served as ambassador under both Barack Obama and, briefly, Donald Trump, was ejected from his post earlier this year after criticising the Trump administration during a webinar. Sitting down with Piers Morgan, he displayed no regret, instead sharpening his critique.

The Core of the Accusation

For Rasool, the proof lies in Trump’s persistent promotion of the debunked “white genocide” narrative in South Africa. “I stand by it, because what else explains why he would accuse South Africa of a white genocide? Everyone knows,” Rasool stated, his tone firm.

He argued that Trump’s motivation is not based in fact but in political strategy. “Those who are in power by mobilising a supremacism… are responding not only to a supremacist instinct, but to clear demographic shifts in the US,” he said, pointing to America’s changing electorate.

Rasool connected this to U.S. immigration patterns, asking, “What other motive explains that you have a net deportation of Black and brown people from the US and a net importation of white Afrikaners into the US, ostensibly as refugees? There’s no rational explanation except that there’s an instinct at play – and I call it a supremacist instinct.”

A “Serious Charge” and a “Badge of Honour”

When Morgan pressed him on the gravity of labelling a sitting U.S. president a white supremacist, Rasool did not flinch.

“It’s a serious charge, but the American president makes serious charges every day of his life. You can’t have such thin skin when you dish it out,” he retorted.

He reframed his expulsion not as a punishment, but as a testament to his impact. He called it a “badge of honour” that “one ambassador out of almost 200 said something, and it was heard in the Oval Office. It hurt the Oval Office. It pierced their very thin skin.”

When asked directly if he believes Trump is a white supremacist, Rasool’s answer was unequivocal: “I think he has mobilised that instinct in the US. I think it’s the source of his goal.”

The Lingering Diplomatic Fallout

The interview underscores the profoundly fractured state of U.S.-South Africa relations. The tension was further highlighted by a conflicting narrative over U.S. participation in the G20 Summit. While President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a last-minute “change of mind” from Washington, the White House immediately pushed back, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accusing Ramaphosa of “running his mouth.”

This public spat, set against the backdrop of Rasool’s expulsion and his unwavering accusations, reveals a diplomatic chasm that shows no signs of narrowing. For Rasool, the line is clear. On Trump doubling down on the genocide claim, he concluded, “You never double down on the wrong… And therefore, he has no right to double down on falsehoods.” In this high-stakes war of words, the former ambassador has made it clear he has no intention of surrendering.

{Source: IOL}

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