The meeting between Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was astonishing, a word I don’t recall using in print before. Allegedly, a discussion of trade issues, it soon became obvious it was an ambush, allowing Trump to “prove” the genocide in South Africa of white farmers. Midway through the meeting, Trump had aides dim the lights and play a video showcasing his evidence. The focal point of the video was a long scrolling shot of white crosses alongside a road, allegedly over 1,000 graves of white farmers who were executed in race-based attacks.
President Ramaphosa was forced to endure the video. When it was over, Ramaphosa indicated he’d never seen that video and asked, “have they told you where that is, Mr. President? I’d like to know where that is.” Trump didn’t respond.
Given that Trump is the same man who “proved” Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a member of the gang MS-13 based on a photoshopped tattoo, justifying his deportation to El Salvador, there is no lie too brazen for our president. He tells a story and sticks to it. It isn’t unreasonable to wonder if the alleged burial site is real, or even in South Africa. Shortly after the meeting, the White House released a video of the graves on X. I waited a few hours before writing this story, believing the video Trump released would soon be proven a lie. I wasn’t disappointed.
The video in question was taken at Witkruis Monument, also known as Plaasmoorde Monument, along the N1 route between Mokopane and Polokwane, South Africa, on private property of the Harmse family. The crosses are symbolic, and there are no graves on the site. The monument is supposed to represent white farmers killed in South Africa, but there is no relationship between the number of crosses and the number of dead white farmers. In 2011, the owners of the white cross monument added an extra 2000 crosses to the those already standing on the hill. White farmers killed for any reason might be represented, including well-known white supremacist and neo-Nazi, Eugène Terre’Blanche, who was murdered on his Ventersdorp farm by two of his employees after not paying their wages.
The truth, a concept Trump has no relationship with, is that South Africa has a huge problem with violence, though the vast majority of victims are Black. Data from groups representing South African farmers also shows that farm killings number in the dozens per year, a minuscule percentage of the country’s total.
The video shown by Trump was previously released by Elon Musk a week ago. Musk presumably knew no bodies were buried on the site while he stood in the audience while Trump repeated the false claim multiple times. It seems lying is contagious in Trump World. There is no mass grave for white farmers. Only the perpetuation of a big lie, the kind Trump has an affinity for.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium. And if you dig his words, buy the man a coffee.