South African white nationalist who marched in Charlottesville tells CNN that Trump is his ‘ray of hope’

Simon Roche, a white nationalist from South Africa who demonstrated with neo-Nazis at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville in 2017, tells CNN that President Donald Trump is his "ray of hope" for the future.

Roche is the leader of a paramilitary organization called the Suidlanders, a group of white South Africans who are preparing for a race war against black South Africans.

Although Roche denies being a racist or a neo-Nazi, CNN reveals that he demonstrated alongside neo-Nazis at the infamous Charlottesville riots, and he had nothing but praise for the demonstrators who chanted "Jews will not replace us."

"The guys did a superb job," Roche said in a voice message to his followers in South Africa after the Charlottesville demonstrations. "The people behaved themselves respectfully and decently."

Roche tells CNN that he was particularly heartened by a Trump tweet this summer that ordered an investigation into the treatment of white South African farmers shortly after a segment about white South Africans aired on Tucker Carlson's program on Fox News.

"We saw a ray of hope," he says of Trump's tweet. "Maybe there are people out there who know and care and have power and influence. Only time will tell how much is smoke and mirrors -- shadows and dust."