CNN’s token Republican Scott Jennings had a hard time defending President Trump‘s South African “genocide” talk when confronted with the facts on NewsNight with Abby Phillip.
At the top of the show Wednesday evening, the host dived into the big story of the day: Trump‘s “Oval Office ambush” of a visiting South African delegation, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa and his delegates thought they were coming for a meeting about a reset in relations between the two nations. Instead, South Africa’s most famous white man, Elon Musk, watched on as Trump went on a crazy rant about the “genocide” allegedly being committed against white farmers.
Later on, Phillip laid down the facts. From April last year through December, a total of 19,696 murders were committed in South Africa. Only 36 were committed on farms, and just seven victims were farmers. Official data is not broken down by race, so it is not known how many victims were white or Black.
“This is straight out of the conspiracy land of the far right, and it is not based in fact,” she said of the MAGA “genocide” grumblings.
At this point, the camera turned to Jennings with his brow furrowed and his chin perched on his fist.
“It’s amazing that this has actually become the foreign policy of the United States,” she went on. “We have the numbers, it’s completely unsubstantiated.”
Jennings had enough at this point. “You’re saying it’s not true that some white farmers have been murdered?” he demanded.
Phillip disagreed with that assertion, saying that it is not true that there is a genocide of white farmers, as Trump claimed.
Genocide, per Merriam-Webster, is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.” Phillip was making the point that while white farmers have been killed in South Africa, calling these killings a “genocide” is a huge reach.
“OK, whatever you call it, white farmers have been murdered,” Jennings said.
His smug demeanor was upended when Phillip came up with a plan to simply ask him about the facts. “Actually, how many…” she began, with Jennings interrupting.
“Hold on a second,” she demanded, “How many white farmers have been murdered?”
This forced Jennings to admit: “I don’t know. Several…”
“No, no, no, how many?” the host pressed.
Jennings repeated that he didn’t know the figure. “I know why you don’t know,” Phillip said. “Because those numbers don’t exist broken down by race.”
“I mean I wouldn’t trust the South African government to tell me, I know that,” Jennings said, devolving into conspiracy mode.
“How many Black farmers have been murdered in South Africa?” Phillip continued.
“Look, you guys are so triggered over 59 people,” Jennings shot back.
“I haven’t even brought up the people, the white people Trump picked out because they were white and told them they could come to the country,” the host responded.
This back-and-forth relates to 59 Afrikaners who moved to the U.S. to resettle earlier this month after Trump granted them refugee status, claiming they faced racial discrimination.
“How much racial killing are you going to condone?” Jennings said, scrambling for a comeback.
“According to who?! According to who?!” a panicked Jennings then demanded as Phillip repeated the official statistics about murders in South Africa that make a mockery of his, and Trump‘s, claims.
She said the figures come from the South African police. “And you think the South African government is a credible source?” Jennings retorted.
Phillip responded that “the vast majority of people killed on South African farms are Black,” adding, “Where’s the concern about them?”
Wriggling in his chair, Jennings spluttered: “The concern is that there are farmers who have had violence committed against them and they’re being threatened every single day… there’s 59 people and you’re triggered about 59 people and I don’t know why…”
“I haven’t mentioned anything about 59 people,” Phillip pointed out. “Why are you only concerned about white people?” she then pointedly asked.
“I’m only concerned about this story because these 59 people asked for status, they’re getting status and now everybody’s freaking out about it,” he said, changing the subject.
Phillip later accused Jennings of “taking a fringe movement and trying to make it a characteristic of an entire nation.”
He stuck to his “triggered” stance and the segment rumbled on like it usually does, with Jennings side-stepping any nuanced argument in favor of jingoistic reactions.
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