US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has come under heavy criticism for mispronouncing Tanzania, an East African country, in his latest foreign policy speech on Wednesday.
“Look at what happened in the 1990s. Our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were attacked and 17 brave sailors were killed on the USS Cole,” Mr. Trump said.
Political pundits were quick to dent Mr. Trump’s foreign policy, accusing him of mispronouncing the word “Tanzania.” The leading Republican presidential aspirant pronounced the word as “Tan-ZAY-nee-uh,” as opposed to the actual pronunciation, which is “Tan-zu-KNEE-uh.”
Trump’s political rivals quickly took to social media to criticize Donald Trump, questioning the legitimacy of his foreign policy given that he can’t even pronounce a tricky foreign word.
Bill Kempin @BillKempin wrote:
Donald Trump’s foreign policy in a nutshell: Insult our enemies, wall off our neighbors and mispronounce our allies.
Another Twitter user, Andrewid @andrewidy said:
Better to mispronounce a country than to pounce on it with neocon bombs #DonaldTrump.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest also joined in the criticism saying, “Apparently the phonetics are not included on the teleprompters,” after journalists asked him to comment on Trump’s blunder.
Speaking to The Guardian, Priyal Lal, an assistant professor of African history at Boston College, criticized Trump’s mispronunciation blunder saying it is a serious error and quite ignorant.
“I would say that it really doesn’t bode well if somebody who’s campaigning to be the leader of the United States can’t even pronounce the name of the country,” Priya said.
Trump’s Immigration Policy
Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policy has rubbed many immigrants the wrong way, as it requires children born of illegal immigrants to be denied American citizenship.
Trump has constantly labeled immigrants in America as rapists and felons who bring diseases to the United States. He has also stated that if he were to be elected as President of the United States he will ensure the US monitors and limits the number of Muslim refugees coming through the American borders.
The Republican presidential aspirant has also been accused of disrespecting African Americans, especially after his latest comment on racially-motivated violence in America. When asked about the “Black Lives Matter” protests in South Carolina, Trump said:
“There’s no such thing as racism anymore. We’ve had a black president so it’s not a question anymore. Are they saying black lives should matter more than white lives or Asian lives? If black lives matter, then go back to Africa! We’ll see how much they matter there.”
While Trump has continuously insisted that he has always had a great relationship with blacks, many still accuse him of having racist tendencies. It remains to be seen how he will win the African American vote.
