Trump defends video shown to South African President

The White House is insisting that a video played for visiting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, that showed images of crosses in South Africa, was about burial sites for white farmers who had been killed and politically persecuted.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt clashed with an NBC News reporter over whether the video displayed by Donald Trump in the Oval Office had been verified.

Reporter Yamiche Alcindor asked about the video: "It's not the burial site, which is what the president claimed." "The video showed images of crosses in South Africa about white farmers who have been killed and politically persecuted because of the colour of their skin," Leavitt responded.

Trump falsely claimed that a video he ordered to be played in the Oval Office during his meeting with South Africa's leader showed the “burial sites” of more than 1,000 white farmers. In the Oval Office on Wednesday, sitting next to Ramaphosa, Trump spoke about baseless allegations that white farmers in South Africa country were being systematically singled out for persecution and murder. He directed everyone’s attention to a television that had been wheeled into the room, and a video began to play. Trump stared at the screen while Ramaphosa looked away. For roughly four minutes, the video showed

Black politicians — none part of Ramaphosa's government or political party — using anti-apartheid chants about attacking white South Africans.

The politicians have said their comments aren't meant to be taken literally; conservative media use them to advance widely rejected claims that there's a genocide underway in South Africa.

The video ended with footage of rows of white crosses, which Trump said represented slain white farmers. Ramaphosa rejected allegations of genocide in South Africa, which has a painful history with race.

Once an apartheid country, it was ruled by a white minority known as Afrikaners. The system of racist oppression ended three decades ago, and some tension remains despite largely successful efforts at reconciliation.