2 months ago
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President Donald Trump is being torched on social media for a rather ignorant comment.
The MAGA leader was hosting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House on Thursday when reporters asked about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was sent last month to a brutal prison in El Salvador due to an “administrative error.”
Trump not only tried to distance himself from the case by claiming he’s “not involved,” but defended his mass deportation policy by ranting about foreign nations sending dangerous criminals to the U.S. — and, in the process, made a baffling statement about “the Congo.”
“You know, they released [people from] jails ... from all over the world,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “They released them, not just South America, all over the world. The Congo in Africa. Many, many people come from the Congo.”
“I don’t know what that is, but they came from the Congo, and all over the world,” he added.
It’s unclear if Trump was referring to the Democratic Republic of Congo or the Republic of Congo, nor was it clear why he’d singled the country out.
Trump: "People that were in jail for horrible -- you know, they release jails from all over the world and release them. Not just South America. The Congo in Africa. Many many people come from the Congo. I don't know what that is, but they came from the Congo." pic.twitter.com/rGMHLIOlq7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2025While Trump’s claim that he’s “not involved” in Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation sparked outrage on social media, his statement about Congo simply left people stunned.
“WTF,” wrote the anti-Trump group Call to Activism. “In an unbelievable showing of stupidity, Donald Trump admits he doesn’t know where the Congo in Africa is: ‘many people come from the Congo. I don’t know what that is.’ He is the dumbest president we ever had.”
Trump’s fearmongering about other nations sending criminals to the U.S. on purpose is an old talking point. His confusion about Congo, however, was odd given that the Democratic Republic of Congo had just pitched his administration on a minerals-for-security deal.
Whether the geographical flub was intentional or not, Trump is being brutally mocked for it.
He’s talking about entire countries like they’re mysterious jungle creatures. “I don’t know what that is” he’s describing the Congo like it’s a mythical beast, not a nation of 100 million people.
— Nikos Unity (@nikosunity) April 17, 2025This is the same guy that brags about his cognitive test btw
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Trump’s cluelessness about the Congo is a new low, geography matters when you’re leading a nation. This isn’t just ignorance; it’s a dangerous blind spot for someone who once held the nuclear codes. We deserve better than a president who can’t find Africa on a map.
— Richard Angwin (@RichardAngwin) April 17, 2025Elon quietly mining cobalt, tech giants sourcing rare minerals, and your billionaire friends flying in on private jets to extract wealth, trust me, they all know where Congo is. Ask one of them to show you on a map
— Ilyas Ibrahim Mohamed (@iiliyaa) April 17, 2025Remember when Dan Quayle spelled potato as “potatoe” and it haunted him the rest of his career?
Today a sitting President freely admits he has never heard of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (which exports over $300 million/yr of copper/goods to the US) and it’s no biggie.
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