President Donald Trump had kind words for Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai on Wednesday, complimenting him for speaking English “so beautifully” — which drew a round of mockery for Trump’s apparent ignorance that the man was of course fluent in his country’s official language.
Liberia was originally founded as colony during the 19th century and settled by thousands of freed African-American slaves, freeborn African-Americans, and African-Caribbeans. It declared independence in 1847, modeled both its constitutional republican government and flag after the United States, and the capital city of Monrovia was named in honor of U.S. President James Monroe.
English has been Liberia’s official language from the beginning and was widely adopted for the economic benefits from being able to directly communicate with traders from the U.S. and Britain, further encouraged with the emergence of Liberian Kreyol or Liberian Kolokwa (derived from the English word “colloquial”), a creole dialect, which has served as a lingua franca to bridge between the dozens of local native languages. The dominance of English among Liberians has continued with successive generations to the modern day; official government communications are conducted in English as are the country’s schools and universities.
On Wednesday, Trump hosted Boakai along with the leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal at the White House for a summit.
Some of the other heads of state were not native speakers of English and presented their introductory
Boakai began his remarks by congratulating Trump on “the recent celebration of your 249th anniversary,” and noted that they had recognized July 4th at the U.S. Embassy in Liberia.
“Mr. President, we thank you for this opportunity to be here,” Boakai said. “Liberia is a longtime friend of the United States, and we believe in your policy of making America great again.” He continued with a discussion of the benefits of “economic development and commercial friendship,” cited his country’s mineral resources, and voiced his hope to “encourage American involvement and investment in Liberia.”
“Well, thank you,” replied Trump. “And such good English, such beautiful — ”
Boakai chuckled.
“Where did you — where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated? Where? In Liberia?”
“Yes, sir,” replied Boakai.
“Well, that’s very interesting. That’s beautiful English. I have people at this table can’t speak nearly as well.”
Clips of this exchange between Trump and Boakai were widely shared on social media, with Trump’s critics pouncing on the diplomatic gaffe.
Many people commented that an American president should have known Liberia’s official language was English, given the historical ties between the two nations, not to mention the fact that this meeting was scheduled in advance so presumably a
This post by The Bulwark racked up over 1.3 million views by Wednesday afternoon with a short caption that bluntly noted, “English is the official language of Liberia.”
A sampling of other reactions:
Watch the full video at C-SPAN (relevant section begins at roughly the 14:30 mark).