Lesotho was slammed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. He mocked the southern African nation saying it is a country “nobody has ever heard of.”
Trump was addressing Congress when he announced cuts to aid. He singled out a project that eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho.
“Which nobody has ever heard of,” he added, as Republicans laughed along.
Lesotho responds
In response, the Lesotho government has said it was “shocked and embarrassed” by the comments. Foreign minister, Lejone Mpotjoane said: “We did not expect a head of state to refer to another sovereign nation in such a manner.”
The US has an embassy in the capital Maseru.
“We did not expect a head of state to refer to another sovereign nation in such a manner,” Mpotjoane added.
The US has an embassy in the capital Maseru, and American volunteers serve in the popular Peace Corps programme.
“We are not taking this matter lightly,” Mpotjoane said, adding that they would send an official protest letter to Washington.
Also, the country’s main LGBTQ rights organisation denied receiving funds from Washington.
“We are literally not receiving grants from the US,” People’s Matrix spokesperson Tampose Mothopeng said.
“We have no idea of the allocation of eight million [dollars]” he added.
Reactions
A lot of other people reacted to Trump’s dismissive comments
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