Source: Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe is rooting for a Trump presidency – Quartz Africa July 26, 2016
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to have the endorsement of one of Africa’s most notorious despots, Zimbabwe’s longtime president Robert Mugabe.
US lawmakers Chris Coons and Adam Schiff were visiting the southern African country to discuss wildlife trafficking when a request for a meeting with the interior minister turned into a sit down with the president, according to an interview with Politico this week.
According to Coons and Schiff, the discussion turned tense when Mugabe asked why the US insists on sanctioning Zimbabwe. The senators and their delegation listed reasons why the sanctions have remained in place—the US has sanctioned the country since 2002 after reports of election abuse and human rights violations. Mugabe has held on to power by repressing his rivals as well as the public.
After an awkward silence, Mugabe said, “Once [Trump] is your president, you’ll wish you’d been friendlier to me,” according to Coons’ retelling of the encounter.
It’s unclear why Mugabe thinks Trump would be more sympathetic to him than previous American presidents. The republican candidate hasn’t made any public statements about how he would approach US-Zimbabwe relations.
Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton on the other hand has compared the Trump’s economic policies to those of Zimbabwe in the 1990s, which caused hyperinflation and economic crisis.
Or it may be the case that Mugabe senses a kindred spirit:
It appears Trump’s race for the presidency has made it more difficult for US representatives to be taken seriously abroad.
“We’ve been the object of some derision by autocratic heads of state as a result of Trump’s candidacy,” Coons said.
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COMMENTS
This is very poor and uninformed journalism. Had the author really done his research he would have found that in fact, Trump has made public statement regarding Mugabe, and that statement in itself would be completely contrary to the headline…
Google is your friend;)
Trump said he would arrest mugabe and lock him up at the Hague and throw away the prison keys
TRUMP 2016……NOT LYING HILARY
@Anon, I totally agree with your comment, and I smell a rat in this journalism which seems to be another attempt to discredit Donald Trump who I hope and believe will be the next USA President, and God help Mugabe if he is. Mugabe is not respected by any one so he will not gain from anyone. He is certainly on his way out now and thankfully the world will rally around the movements who want him out.
If this is true it reflects Bobs thinking – way out of line with reality, but we already know that
There is no way US diplomats would have listed reasons for sanctions on Zimbabwe that do not exist. The sanctions are on some of the criminals suppressing the rule of law in Zimbabwe.
Who are Quartz Africa?
Anyway, the journalist may be misguided, but I doubt he dreamt up his story. Something must have happened along the lines he reports. Trump is reckless, and Mugabe is past master of leveraging chaos, thriving on it, being the demolition expert that he is. Why else would a guy who is labeled monkey wish Trump succeed? The two operate at a level far above our moralistic sensibilities – psychotic. And who says psychopaths have no role in the affairs of humanity? They make us lesser mortals sit up and wonder, cringe, bit lip, and hopefully fight for Good. That is necessary. Life will cease when we all become good people. ?