WATCH | Whoops! Tucker Carlson backtracks on claims about 'racist' Cyril Ramaphosa seizing land

The man who sparked Donald Trump's controversial tweet about land in SA, has backed down on his claims

27 August 2018 - 11:36 By TimesLIVE
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The Washington Post is reporting that far-right Fox News opinionista Tucker Carlson has back-tracked on claims that President Cyril Ramaphosa's government is seizing land through illegal means.

His programme caused a global Twitter storm when US President Donald Trump tweeted: "I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. 'South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers'."

The Washington Post wrote: "Too bad Carlson isn’t standing by his own broadcast."

Carlson made an "adjustment" to his claims in a subsequent broadcast.

Whereas he originally said Ramaphosa had "begun" seizing land without compensation, he now said: "Even now, the government is trying to confiscate two game farms after the owners refused to sell at a fraction of the market price."

And where he had said that Ramaphosa was changing the constitution to facilitate stealing, he now said: "The president of the country, Cyril Ramaphosa, has pledged to change South Africa’s constitution in order to legalise the seizure of property without compensation. That’s currently being debated in the parliament in South Africa."

The Washington Post article noted dryly: "Sounds like democracy in action."

Here's his first video so you can compare for yourself:


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