Judge for yourself: Transcript of BBC Hardtalk interview with Nelson Chamisa

Sackur: You say you are a serious and credible guy and of course that is being measured not just inside Zimbabwe but around the world. You went, at the end of last year, to Washington DC  and a lot of serious questions were raised about your behaviour in Washington DC……

Chamisa: Indeed

Sackur: You did see some senior people on capitol hill, some congress people, but you also claimed that you had seen Donald Trump, you claimed you had a conversation with him in which you say he asked you how much you needed to move the country forward, you told him $15 billion and he said to you he would provide the money if you won the election. That was not true, was it?

Chamisa: Very true that, yes in terms of our reconstruction programme according to the African Development Bank…

Sackur: No No No. What I mean is it was not true that you had seen Donald Trump and Donald Trump indicated to you that he would provide if you won the election that $15 billion

Chamisa: All those statements were said by other people not what I said.

Sackur: Oh No because there’s a video which shows you at a rally in January back home in Zimbabwe saying Donald Trump would pretty much provide the $15 billion dollars

Chamisa: I said we met the Trump administration.

Sackur: So it’s very clear because some people in Zimbabwe are now confused. You are telling me you did not meet Donald Trump?

Chamisa: We did not, we met the Donald Trump administration and that’s the point I made.

Sackur: Well, the Whitehouse was so irritated by what you said that they came out, they issued a statement, saying: “We never support individuals or political parties”.

Chamisa: Which is correct.  It is never a support on a political party, It……

Sackur: That’s precisely what they said…….

Chamisa: …And I agree with that position. It is a support to the government of the day. When we form the next government there are things that we would want to see if place……

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