A video on social media (here, here, and here) shows Donald Trump saying, “I’m a big fan of Hindus and India; if elected as President, the Indian community will have a true friend in the White House.” The video, captioned with similar remarks, is being shared in the context of the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential elections in November 2024, alluding that Trump made these comments recently. Let’s verify the authenticity of this claim in this article.
Claim: Donald Trump said he is a big fan of Hindu and India ahead of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Elections
Fact: The video being shared dates back to 16 October 2016 at an Indian-American charity event in Edison, N.J. Trump declared himself “a big fan of Hindus” and praised Prime Minister Modi, emphasizing India as a key ally. The event was aimed to boost Trump’s appeal among Indian-American voters before the 2016 election. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
A reverse image search of the keyframes taken from the viral video led us to the video posted by Asian News International on 16 October 2016 on their Facebook page captioning #WATCH US Elections 2016: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says, “I’m a big fan of Hindus & India; if elected as (the US) President, the Indian community will have a true friend in the White House”. This confirmed that the video is not recent. The full video of this event is also published on the YouTube channel of the ‘Republican Hindu Coalition’.
A relevant keyword search led us to reports (here and here) that provided further clarity and context. During an Indian-American charity event in Edison, N.J., Donald Trump declared himself “a big fan of Hindus”. He praised India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aligning their anti-bureaucracy and nationalist views. He emphasized that India would be a key ally under his administration, highlighting cooperation in intelligence sharing and security. This event, organized by the Republican Hindu Coalition, aimed to strengthen Trump’s appeal among Indian-American voters just weeks before the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The 2024 United States elections are set to take place on Tuesday, 05 November 2024, during which the president and vice president will be elected.
To sum up, an old 2016 video of Trump is being shared as a recent one in the context of the upcoming 2024 U.S. elections.
