The shadow of Donald Trump’s “hellhole” remarks continued to dog US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Monday as he once again fielded a question on it Monday, seeking to dismiss allegations of rising anti-India rhetoric in America.
President Trump is a “big fan of India and Prime Minister” Narendra Modi, Rubio, who is currently on a four-day trip to India aimed at recalibrating bilateral relations that have faced headwinds since mid-last year, underlined once again.
"I wouldn't be here if the President didn't want me to be here. He wouldn't have sent someone like Sergio [Gor] to be our ambassador, someone who's very close to the President," Rubio said on Monday.
Rubio said this when a journalist asked about the controversy – swirling after the video of the US diplomat’s response to a reporter's question on Sunday on instances of racism towards Indians in America went viral – and suggested that perhaps the reporter on Sunday was referring to President Trump's comment against Indians.
Many saw Sunday’s question as a reference to Trump's remarks referring to India along with China as a "hellhole" and appearing to accuse people from the two countries of abusing America's birthright citizenship.
The US State Department had posted Rubio's remarks in response to Sunday’s racism question along with other comments on X (formerly Twitter) but hours later deleted the question.
Rubio said on Monday he had specifically asked the reporter on Sunday whom he was referring to, but he did not respond.
"The bottom line is that in the modern era, you go online, and there are people saying all kinds of crazy stuff. I don't even know if they're real people or who they are," Rubio said.
He indicated that he thought the reporter was referring to comments by people online.
The reporter had asked on Sunday: "There have been a lot of racist comments coming from the United States against Indians, Indian Americans. You know this goes against the basic premise of the India-US relationship. What's your take on that?"
When Rubio asked whom he was referring to, the reporter responded by saying: "We all have seen those comments. We've seen endorsement of those comments."
In response, Rubio remarked that "every country has stupid people."