Ah, Diwali. A weekend filled with lights, festivities, and… Trump ads?
That’s right. Indian television channels from left and right have been playing a, dare I say it, deplorable commercial by the Trump campaign and Republican Hindu Coalition in an effort to win the Indian-American vote. And, if anything, the ad has made him lose more votes than gain.
Republican party presidential nominee Donald Trump recently made an appearance at an event with a slew of Bollywood stars, hosted by the Republican Hindu Coalition. The new ad, which has been aired on Indian-American channels such as Zee TV and Aapka Colors, meshes footage from Trump’s speech at the charity concert with pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and of the terrorist attack on Mumbai’s Taj Hotel from 2008. It looks like a first grader just threw random pictures and clips into Windows Movie Maker and voila.
“The Indian and Hindu community will have a true friend in the White House,” Trump says during his speech in the ad. “We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism.”
He later rips off a slogan Modi used during his campaign for the Prime Minister position in India: “Ab ki baar, Trump sarkaar.” If you don’t speak Hindi, it means, “This time a Trump government.” If you do speak Hindi and have no idea what he’s saying, then I honestly wouldn’t blame you for that because -- 1) his New York accent makes it really hard to understand what’s he trying to say, 2) the fact that he is clearly putting no effort into this makes me and many young Indian-Americans cringe, and 3) the slogan isn’t exactly that straightforward either.
GUYS, I’M SHOOK.
Now, you may be asking, “Why is he trying to court a group of voters who have overwhelmingly voted Democrat in past elections? Why is he reaching out to a base in which 70% of voters are projected to vote for Hillary Clinton?”
It turns out that this form of outreach really does have some significance.
Trump has amassed a great deal of support from Hindu nationalists in India, who have gone ga-ga over the Republican real-estate magnate. From hosting birthday parties to creating an elaborate shrine, this group has professed their overwhelming infatuation with the tiny-fingered presidential nominee, mostly because of his Islamophobic rhetoric and aggressive promises to defeat Islamic extremists. And, it looks like Trump’s anti-Islam prose has piqued the interest of a few Indian-American voters, some of whom have expressed support for Trump’s plans to curb Muslim immigration into the United States. Many have also warmed up to the idea of a Trump presidency due to Trump tough talk on Pakistan in particular, which has grown extremely relevant given the recent tension at the India-Pakistan border.
But, to describe this ad, and this entire presidential election, in one word -- yikes.
