Former American President Donald Trump marked Diwali, one of the largest Hindu celebrations of the year, on Thursday, vowing to protect the religious freedom of Hindu Americans and making a final pitch to Indian American voters generally.
In a message posted to his social media outlet Truth Social, Trump condemned rampant mob attacks against Hindus by Muslims in Bangladesh, blaming the disorderly foreign policy of rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, and outgoing President Joe Biden for an eruption of violence and chaos around the world.
“Kamala and Joe have ignored Hindus across the world and in America,” Trump wrote. “They have been a disaster from Israel to Ukraine to our own Southern Border, but we will Make America Strong Again and bring back Peace through Strength!”
Trump’s pitch to Indian American voters, one of the most active and growing voting blocs in the country, arrives as polls show a notably shift in the traditionally Democrat demographic towards the Republicans – and a major rift between Indian American men and women, as well a significant socioeconomic divide.
The Indian American community is among the most diverse voting blocs, comprised of people speaking multiple languages, maintaining a variety of faiths, and running the socioeconomic spectrum. The Times of India noted on Friday that a recent poll found that inflation was far and away the most important election issue for Indian Americans, with abortion a distant section. Listed at the top of reason Indian American voters who do not support Democrats refuse to do so was that the party is “weak on illegal immigration.”
Trump’s first tenure in office was marked with a vocally pro-Indian foreign policy, prioritizing improving ties with India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi and supporting India’s efforts to contain the belligerence of neighboring communist China. While many Indian American voters appear to view this policy favorably, many also acknowledge that Harris’s political ascent is of unique historical significance for their community, as Harris is the first Indian American to hold the office of the vice president and may soon be the country’s first Indian American president.
Trump’s Diwali message opened first with condemnation and a sense of urgency for the Hindus of Bangladesh.
“I strongly condemn the barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos,” he wrote, blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the situation.
Bangladesh has been in a state of unrest and political chaos since August, when Sheikh Hasina, who served as prime minister for 15 years, abruptly resigned and fled the country. While Bangladesh is a majority Muslim country, it is home to a sizable Hindu minority and Hasina maintained positive relations with neighboring India. Hasina’s resignation prompted a riot at her official residence as thousands stormed and looted the home, killing at least 90 people. Hundreds died in the riots around the country in the initial aftermath of her resignation.
The Indian government blamed the Chinese Communist Party and neighboring Pakistan for Hasina’s ouster, claiming that her pro-India policies were an obstacle to Beijing’s plans for global dominance. Hasina herself, however, blamed the Biden administration, claiming that the United States toppled her government because of a territorial dispute over Saint Martin Island, an obscure territory in the Bay of Bengal. The Biden administration had questioned the integrity of the last election Hasina won.
“We have never engaged in any conversations about taking over St Martin’s Island,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller had denied in June. “We value our partnership with Bangladesh. We strive to bolster our relationship by working together to promote democracy, including by supporting free and fair elections.”
In addition to the destruction of the presidential resident, Muslim mobs in Bangladesh stormed Hindu and Christian communities, burning down hundreds of homes, temples, and businesses.
At home, Trump offered Hindu American voters a pro-religious freedom agenda.
“We will also protect Hindu Americans against the anti-religion agenda of the radical left. We will fight for your freedom,” he promised in his Truth Social post. “Under my administration, we will also strengthen our great partnership with India and my good friend, Prime Minister Modi.”
“Kamala Harris will destroy your small businesses with more regulations and higher taxes. By contrast, I cut taxes, cut regulations, unleashed American energy, and built the greatest economy in history,” he wrote.
“Also, Happy Diwali to All, I hope the Festival of Lights leads to the Victory of Good over Evil!”
Diwali is colloquially known as the “festival of lights” and a fixture in Hindu, Sikh, and Jain religious celebrations. This year, the festival overlapped with the Western holiday of Halloween. As it is celebrated in various religious traditions, the exact religious lore behind the celebrations varies, though all who celebrate typically describe it as a victory of good over evil and light over dark. Hindus often mark Diwali as an observance of the mythical defeat of the demon king Ravana by Ram, one of the most venerated Hindu gods, after Ravana had abducted his wife, the goddess Sita.
About 2.6 million Indian Americans are eligible to vote in the 2024 presidential election, which will culminate on Tuesday. The voting bloc has traditionally leaned Democratic, but the party’s support has eroded significantly in the past decade. According to a poll published on Friday, the 2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey, over half, 56 percent, of Indian Americans identified as Democrats in 2020. Today, that number is 47 percent, nearly a ten-percent decline.
In terms of support for presidential candidates, Biden attracted 68 percent Indian American support, compared to 61 percent for Harris, despite her Indian heritage.
The poll found that 32 percent of Indian American voters intended to vote for Trump, which the Times of India described as a “modest increase” compared to prior elections. Hindus were slightly less likely to support Harris, at 58 percent, than non-Hindu Indian Americans, at 62 percent.
The poll found a massive divided between more pro-Trump Indian American male voters and pro-Harris Indian American women. That divide likely influenced the top issues identified as priorities in the poll. At the top, 37 percent said they believed inflation was the most important issue. “Abortion” and “jobs” tied for second place at 13 percent.
Speaking to Indian American voters for a report published on Tuesday, the BBC found enthusiastic support for Harris at a glitzy Diwali party in Manhattan, where “influential Indian Americans ranging from Bollywood actors to tech CEOs, dressed in bedazzled outfits and heavy jewellery” felt they strongly identified with Harris. Indian Americans of less-lavish backgrounds appeared more inclined to support Trump
“Some people talked about the relationships between India and the US, and that Trump really made a lot of effort with the relationship,” Priti Pandya-Patel, the chairwoman of the South Asian Coalition, told the BBC. Kamala Harris — I don’t even think that she’s ever even visited India in her years as vice-president.”
Pandya-Patel, based in New Jersey, noted that Democrat-led immigration policies were a factor for her, telling the BBC, “I came here in the 1970s. My dad came legally and worked really hard to get to where he is. I just feel that all these people who came legally in the 60s and 70s and worked their way up, are being punished or not rewarded.”
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