The Left Plays into Trump’s Hands on Admission of South African Refugees

We find ourselves in the midst of a dramatic role reversal. All of a sudden, the Trump administration is positioning itself as a champion of the rights of oppressed minorities abroad yearning for the liberty and security that can be found only within America’s borders. Democrats, by contrast, are up in arms over the importation of a refugee population facing persecution abroad. If the population in question weren’t white South Africans, this would not fit within the political rubric to which we’ve all become accustomed.

But because we’re talking about Afrikaners, it makes immediate sense. To a particular type of leftwing activist, it might as well still be 1993 in South Africa — a nation plagued by apartheid-style abuses executed by its tyrannical white minority. They must think: How could such a population ever be oppressed, much less deserving of resettlement in the United States? Likewise, among the president’s more performatively provocative defenders, agitating all the right people is a virtue in and of itself. Indeed, there is utility in showcasing the Democratic Party’s hypocrisy when it comes to refugees and asylum seekers.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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We find ourselves in the midst of a dramatic role reversal. All of a sudden, the Trump administration is positioning itself as a champion of the rights of oppressed minorities abroad yearning for the liberty and security that can be found only within America’s borders. Democrats, by contrast, are up in arms over the importation of a refugee population facing persecution abroad. If the population in question weren’t white South Africans, this would not fit within the political rubric to which we’ve all become accustomed.

But because we’re talking about Afrikaners, it makes immediate sense. To a particular type of leftwing activist, it might as well still be 1993 in South Africa — a nation plagued by apartheid-style abuses executed by its tyrannical white minority. They must think: How could such a population ever be oppressed, much less deserving of resettlement in the United States? Likewise, among the president’s more performatively provocative defenders, agitating all the right people is a virtue in and of itself. Indeed, there is utility in showcasing the Democratic Party’s hypocrisy when it comes to refugees and asylum seekers.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.