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PICTURED: Ronald Reagan

NEWLY RELEASED audio recordings have revealed then California governor, Ronald Reagan, calling up former President Richard Nixon to let loose his frustration with the Tanzanian delegates.

In the recordings, Reagan can be heard saying: “Last night, I tell you, to watch that thing on television as I did.” Nixon replies: “Yeah,” to which Reagan adds: “To see those, those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” Nixon is then heard laughing at Reagan’s comment.

This October 1971 exchange came after the UN took its vote to seat a delegation from Beijing instead of from Taiwan in 1971 and members of the Tanzanian delegation started dancing in the General Assembly in celebration.

Reagan, a loyal defender of Taiwan, described the UN as a “kangaroo court” filled with “bums,” and he wanted the US to withdraw from full participation immediately.

The exchange was taped by Nixon and obtained by the National Archives, who released the tapes in 2000. However, the racist portion was withheld to protect Reagan’s privacy.

It was not until late 2018 that the National Archives began a more in-depth review of the earliest Nixon tapes, as Reagan’s death in 2004 meant all privacy concerns were void.

It is alleged that the primary purpose of Reagan’s call to Nixon was to advise him to withdraw the US from the United Nations, but Reagan’s racists complaints about the African delegates quickly became the focal point.

In another recording, Nixon can be heard confiding in then secretary of state William Rogers, as he says: “As you can imagine, there’s strong feeling that we just shouldn’t, as [Reagan] said, he saw these—these, uh, these cannibals on television last night.

“Christ, they weren’t even wearing shoes, and here the United States is going to submit its fate to that, and so forth and so on.”

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