Trump's debunked 'burial site' video reopens 'wounds,' says victim's son - NPR

Trump's misleading video of a 'burial site' for white South African farmers reopened 'new wounds,' victim's son tells NPR.

A misleading video shown by President Donald Trump during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office has reopened emotional wounds for the son of a murdered farming couple whose memorial was misrepresented in the footage.

"My parents Glen and Vida Rafferty were murdered, or gunned down, by six men on their farm in 2020, so those crosses were erected as a memorial on the day of their funeral," Nathan Rafferty told NPR in an interview. "The last thing you expect to see are some of the most traumatic parts of your life shown on international TV. It obviously opened several new wounds."

What Actually Happened

During the Wednesday meeting, Trump played a video showing a rural road lined with white crosses and a procession of cars, telling Ramaphosa: "Now this is very bad, those are burial sites right there. Burial sites. Over a thousand. Of white farmers. I've never seen anything like it."

A visibly surprised Ramaphosa asked Trump where the location was, saying he'd never seen the video before. Trump replied that it was from South Africa.

While the footage was indeed taken in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province, it did not show burial sites as Trump claimed. The white crosses along the road were placed as part of a memorial protest following the 2020 murders of the Raffertys at their farm in Normandien, near Newcastle. Local community members had erected approximately 500 wooden crosses as a symbolic tribute during a peaceful protest to raise awareness about farm attacks.

"The local community used it as a means of protest and to pay tribute," explained Nathan Rafferty, who now lives in Brisbane, Australia. No bodies were buried along the road, and the crosses did not mark actual graves.

Official Responses

When questioned about the president's characterization of the video, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump's interpretation, saying: "What's unsubstantiated about the video? The video shows crosses that represent the dead bodies of people who were racially persecuted by their government."

However, the crosses were specifically placed as a symbolic tribute to the murdered Rafferty couple, not representing a specific count of farm murder victims as implied by Trump's statement about "over a thousand" burial sites.