US State Dept: Rasool’s comments about country unacceptable, obscene

CAPE TOWN - The United States (US) State Department said it regards Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool’s comments about the country as unacceptable and obscene.

Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rasool disrespected not only President Donald Trump but all Americans.

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Rasool on Monday lost his diplomatic immunity and privileges in the US and will have to leave the country by Friday, after telling an African relations seminar that Trump’s government is operating from a position of white supremacy.

At a US State Department press briefing on Monday night, Bruce defended the decision to announce Rasool’s persona non grata status on Friday in an X post by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

She said on the same day, officials from the South African embassy were called to an in-person meeting at the State Department to officially communicate the expulsion for Rasool’s utterances.

"It’s not about criticism. This was the equation of the president and the country with white supremacy. It was an allegation that casts such an awful light on the nature of the country, on individuals."

Bruce said that as a diplomat, Rasool was expected to facilitate a relationship between South Africa and the US.
 
"These remarks were unacceptable to the United States, not just to the president, but to every American. They were pretty much obscene when it came to the nature of what was alleged. And so that is, I think, at the very least what we should expect, is a standard of some respect, basic, low-level respect, if you’re in a position that is going to help facilitate any kind of diplomatic relationship with another country."
 
Rasool and his wife are due back in Cape Town on Sunday.