Trump’s ‘hate speeches’ still causing controversy.

The Internet is currently awash with reports claiming that a United States presidential aspirant, Donald Trump, has threatened to deport Nigerians in the US if he becomes the President.

While Nigerians in different parts of the world have reacted negatively to the claim, interestingly, many of the online reports appear phony.

According to some Nigerian online platforms, Trump reportedly handed down the threat at a rally in Wichita, Kansas, US.

The reports claimed that Trump, whose campaign has been embroiled in a series of controversies, expressed disgust at the manner Nigerians and other Africans were allegedly taking up the few jobs available to Americans. He was said to have promised to “throw them out” of the US if he emerges the president.

Many online platforms attributed their reports to payges.co whose report, our correspondent found out, was a direct quote from a commentary on a YouTube video.

The YouTube video, which contains photo slides of Trump, gave an account of what the presidential hopeful said without replaying a single line from the original speech to give it credibility.

Apart from the repatriation threat, it quoted Trump as describing Nigerian leaders as corrupt individuals who did not learn anything from the British colonialists. According to the tap, Trump said the US could chose to re-colonise Nigeria.

“To make America great again, we need to get rid of the Muslims, Mexicans and Africans, especially Nigerians. They take all our jobs, jobs meant for honest, hard-working Americans, and when we don’t give them the jobs, the Muslims blow us up.

“We need to get the Africans out. Not the blacks, the Africans, especially Nigerians. They are everywhere. I went for a rally in Alaska and met just one African in the state. Where was he from? Nigeria! He is in Alaska taking our jobs. They are in Houston taking our jobs. Why can they not stay in their own country? Why?

“I’ll tell you why. (It is) because they are corrupt. Their governments are so corrupt that they rob the people blind and bring it all here to spend. Their people run away and come down here to take our jobs. We cannot have that. If I become president, we will send them all home. We will build a wall at the Atlantic shore.

“Then, maybe we will re-colonise them because obviously they did not learn a damn thing from Britain,” the trending 73-minute YouTube content quoted.

The video also claimed that Nigerian diplomats in the US said they would relocate to Mexico if Trump wins the presidential poll.

So far, no major media organisation in the US has reportedly published or carried the alleged anti-Nigerian remark. Trump, who always re-echoes his sentiments on his social media pages, has yet to refer to Nigeria on these platforms.

Since he started his campaign, Facebook, Instragram and Twitter have served as his diaries. After every major event, Trump takes to the platforms to reiterate his positions, notwithstanding what other people think about the issues.

For instance, despite the global condemnation that greeted his anti-Muslim statement, Trump insisted, on his social media posts, that the US could not afford to be “politically correct” amid threats faced by its citizens.

While the controversy continues, a former media aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has questioned the motive of those behind “the lie”, saying, “It is even sillier if you believe it.”

Another US-based Nigerian, Oluwatobi Falade, wrote, “I honestly don’t believe he said that. There is no credible video; it sounds like a media propaganda. It is not that I like Trump, and I will not be surprised if he has this in his mind. But this seems like a lie against him.”

But one Olajide Jaiye-williams said Trump was capable of any mischievous statement attributed to him.

“He doesn’t like Nigerians, Mexicans, Black Americans and Muslims. He is a divisive individual,” he posted.