ABC News finally found a group of people they didn’t want to let into America: white farmers fleeing from South Africa. That much was clear during Tuesday’s Good morning America when they decried the Trump administration for allowing farmers allegedly being targeted by the South African government to be allowed into the U.S. with refugee status. Interestingly, it was the black journalists who were the most upset.
The media often conflated the crackdown on illegal border crossings and illegal immigration with an opposition to general immigration and legitimate asylum claims. That was the backdrop as senior political correspondent Rachel Scott huffed about the refugees:
Well, the Trump administration has made it virtually impossible for many refugees to come to the United States. But the President is making a special exception for a group of 59 white South Africans who have now been granted refugee status.
Scott whined about the refugees, most of which were families with kids, getting the process expedited and a chartered flight. Becoming a mouthpiece for the South African government, she also tried to downplay the alleged discrimination while admitting it was being done to counter “the legacy of apartheid”:
They arrived at Dulles Airport just outside Washington, D.C. on a charter flight paid for by the U.S. government. The Trump administration approved their applications in just under three months. That is much faster than the normal process which can take years.
The President and his top advisor, Elon Musk, who is South African, had made allegations that white farmers in the country are being discriminated against under land reform policies. Now, South Africa's government says those policies are necessary to remedy the legacy of apartheid and calls allegations of discrimination unfounded and completely false.
She found an outlet for her irritation in a nasty statement from the Episcopal Church. Scott boasted that the church was refusing to help the refugees, ostensibly on political grounds:
The Episcopal Church, which has worked for decades to resettle refugees, says they will not be helping time around; calling it “painful to watch one group of refugees receive preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or in dangerous conditions for years.”
“But the White House says this is the beginning of a much larger relocation effort,” Scott warned.
The report was followed up with this snarky back and forth between Scott and co-anchor Michael Strahan, which had racial undertones:
STRAHAN: Yeah. Will it be just from South Africa? Will it be other countries where you have other minorities?
SCOTT: And that's the point that many Democrats are making, that there are a lot of refugees who have been waiting in camps in conflict areas as well in Africa. But right now the Trump administration particularly focused on THIS group of South Africans.
STRAHAN: Every day gets more interesting.
Interesting how their position on refugees changed depending on race. And of course, they didn’t play any of the videos of rallies in South Africa of people chanting “kill the boer, kill the farmer.”
DISCLOSURE: The Founder and President of the Media Research Center, L. Brent Bozell III was nominated by the Trump administration to be the ambassador to South Africa.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s Good Morning America
May 13, 2025
8:02:57 a.m. EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re going to turn now to the first members of South Africa's white minority arriving in the U.S. as refugees under a policy introduce by the Trump administration. Our senior political correspondent Rachel Scott is here with the story. Hey, Rachel.
RACHEL SCOTT: Hey George, good morning to you.
Well, the Trump administration has made it virtually impossible for many refugees to come to the United States. But the President is making a special exception for a group of 59 white South Africans who have now been granted refugee status.
They arrived at Dulles Airport just outside Washington, D.C. on a charter flight paid for by the U.S. government. The Trump administration approved their applications in just under three months. That is much faster than the normal process which can take years.
The President and his top advisor, Elon Musk, who is South African, had made allegations that white farmers in the country are being discriminated against under land reform policies. Now, South Africa's government says those policies are necessary to remedy the legacy of apartheid and calls allegations of discrimination unfounded and completely false.
The Episcopal Church, which has worked for decades to resettle refugees, says they will not be helping time around; calling it “painful to watch one group of refugees receive preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or in dangerous conditions for years.”
But the White House says this is the beginning of a much larger relocation effort, guys.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Yeah. Will it be just from South Africa? Will it be other countries where you have other minorities?
SCOTT: And that's the point that many Democrats are making, that there are a lot of refugees who have been waiting in camps in conflict areas as well in Africa. But right now the Trump administration particularly focused on THIS group of South Africans.
STRAHAN: Every day gets more interesting. Thank you, Rachel. Appreciate that.
