{"id":34996,"date":"2025-11-21T18:03:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/?p=34996"},"modified":"2025-11-21T18:53:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:53:49","slug":"white-house-press-secretary-under-fire-after-scathing-remarks-about-ramaphosa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/2025\/11\/21\/white-house-press-secretary-under-fire-after-scathing-remarks-about-ramaphosa\/","title":{"rendered":"White House press secretary under fire after scathing remarks about Ramaphosa"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mceTemp\"><\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_35003\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35003\" style=\"width: 522px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-35003\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-170654.png\" alt=\"Picture credit: karolineleavitt, Instagram\" width=\"522\" height=\"391\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-35003\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo credit: karolineleavitt, Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has faced backlash after saying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/2025\/11\/20\/ramaphosa-sa-wont-be-bullied-declares-gbvf-a-national-crisis\/\">President Cyril Ramaphosa<\/a> was &#8220;running his mouth a little bit,&#8221; a remark many South Africans have criticised as undiplomatic and disrespectful.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"254\" data-end=\"522\">Leavitt made the comment while dismissing claims that the US would participate in this weekend\u2019s G20 Leaders\u2019 Summit in Johannesburg. She said only Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires, Marc Dillard, would attend, and solely to fulfil the diplomatic protocol of the declaration handover.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 640px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-34996-1\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6o6BkSGG548SqW83.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6o6BkSGG548SqW83.mp4\">https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6o6BkSGG548SqW83.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>Ramaphosa had earlier said South Africa had received indications of possible US participation.<\/p>\n<p>Following Leavitt\u2019s remarks, many South Africans took to social media to criticise her tone as disrespectful and unbecoming of a senior US official.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Are we not allowed to criticize a &#8220;President of a Sovereign State&#8221;? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BwciiOC3lv\">https:\/\/t.co\/BwciiOC3lv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ernst Roets (@ErnstRoets) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ErnstRoets\/status\/1991723772924293153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@chronikconversations\/video\/7575094237541207314\" data-video-id=\"7575094237541207314\" data-embed-from=\"oembed\" style=\"max-width:605px; min-width:325px;\">\n<section> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"@chronikconversations\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@chronikconversations?refer=embed\">@chronikconversations<\/a> <\/p>\n<p><a title=\"greenscreen\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/greenscreen?refer=embed\">#greenscreen<\/a> Calling South Africa\u2019s President \u201crunning his mouth\u201d was beyond disrespectful @Karoline Leavitt  <a title=\"southafrica\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/southafrica?refer=embed\">#SouthAfrica<\/a> <a title=\"tiktoksouthafrica\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/tiktoksouthafrica?refer=embed\">#tiktoksouthafrica<\/a> <a title=\"globalaffairs\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/globalaffairs?refer=embed\">#GlobalAffairs<\/a> <a title=\"diplomacymatters\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/diplomacymatters?refer=embed\">#DiplomacyMatters<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"\u266c son original - Piano Soin - Tutoriels\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/son-original-7306937893019274016?refer=embed\">\u266c son original &#8211; Piano Soin &#8211; Tutoriels<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We demand respect for President Cyril Ramaphosa from Karoline Leavitt. She must stop disrespecting other heads of states, especially from Africa. We&#8217;re black but not stupid.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 South African Defender (@patricknkwana) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/patricknkwana\/status\/1991606918029406617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 20, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Ramaphosa\u2019s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, has, however, insisted on X that the President will not hand over the G20 Summit presidency to a Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-34998\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-VINCENT-G6Oi1J2WAAAlBtU-770x353.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"770\" height=\"353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-VINCENT-G6Oi1J2WAAAlBtU-770x353.jpg 770w, https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-VINCENT-G6Oi1J2WAAAlBtU-768x352.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-VINCENT-G6Oi1J2WAAAlBtU.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, International relations expert, Professor John Stremlau, says the United States&#8217; stance on the G20 is yet another example of Donald Trump\u2019s unpredictability and tactical behaviour.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to our sister channel eNCA, Stremlau expressed disappointment in Trump&#8217;s conduct.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And he&#8217;s really screwed up. I&#8217;m ashamed to have the birth country that I have. But nevertheless, I&#8217;m proud of the way South Africa is behaving in this peculiar situation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He also reflected on America\u2019s historical inconsistency during apartheid, pointing out that the US once backed the apartheid regime while the late former President Nelson Mandela remained on its terrorist list \u2014 adding that South Africa\u2019s commitment to democracy continues to serve as an inspiration.<\/p>\n\t<div class=\"qtmplayer-playlist-large\">\n\t\t<ul class=\"qtmplayer-playlist\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"qtmplayer-trackitem qtmplayer-track-inpage\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-170654-100x100.png\" alt=\"cover\">\t\t<span \t\t\tdata-qtmplayer-cover=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-170654-370x370.png\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-qtmplayer-file=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6o6BkSGG548SqW83.mp4\n1234152\nvideo\/mp4\n\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-qtmplayer-title=\"White House press secretary under fire after scathing remarks about Ramaphosa\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-qtmplayer-artist=\"Nokwazi Qumbisa\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-qtmplayer-link=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/2025\/11\/21\/white-house-press-secretary-under-fire-after-scathing-remarks-about-ramaphosa\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-qtmplayer-icon=\"file_download\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-qtmplayer-type=\"track\"\n\t\t\t class=\"qtmplayer-play qtmplayer-link-sec qtmplayer-play-btn\"><i class='material-icons' aria-label=\"Play\">play_arrow<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"qtmplayer-tit\">White House press secretary under fire after scathing remarks about Ramaphosa<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"qtmplayer-art\">Nokwazi Qumbisa<\/span>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t\n\t\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has faced backlash after saying President Cyril Ramaphosa was &#8220;running his mouth a little bit,&#8221; a remark many South Africans have criticised as undiplomatic and disrespectful. Leavitt made the comment while dismissing claims that the US would participate in this weekend\u2019s G20 Leaders\u2019 Summit ...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":35003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2019,2018,2017,778,1294,1594],"class_list":["post-34996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-declaration-handover","tag-g20-leaders-summit","tag-karoline-leavitt","tag-president-cyril-ramaphosa","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-united-states"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-170654.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34996"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35028,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34996\/revisions\/35028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}