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Monday, October 7, 2024

Why did Trump call India ‘filthy’? Social media users offer novel explanations

US President Donald Trump on Thursday described the air in India and China as "filthy" causing a storm on Twitter and social media

US President Donald Trump on Thursday described the air in India and China as “filthy” as he denounced Democratic rival Joe Biden’s plans to tackle climate change. At their second and final presidential debate, Trump renewed his criticism that action on climate change was unfair to the United States.

“Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia, look at India — it’s filthy. The air is filthy,” Trump said at the debate in Nashville.

https://twitter.com/NarangVipin/status/1319464542536163328

Read more: In China, unhappiness tracks poor air quality

Trump charged that Biden’s climate plan was an “economic disaster” for oil states such as Texas and Oklahoma. Biden said that climate change is “an existential threat to humanity. We have a moral obligation to deal with it.”

“We’re going to pass the point of no return within the next eight to 10 years,” he said. The planet has already warmed by around one degree Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels, enough to boost the intensity of deadly heat waves, droughts and tropical storms.

Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord, which aims to cap global warming “well below” two degrees Celsius.

Trump’s remarks come days before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper visit New Delhi for talks on building the growing US-India partnership. At the first presidential debate, Trump also spoke critically of India, questioning its coronavirus data amid criticism of Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

Read more: Citizens gasp for air as Delhi gets wrapped in smog

https://twitter.com/NarangVipin/status/1319478442820329472

Social media users across India were amused by the statement, with some voicing their agreement with the US President. Others denounced Trump as a racist for calling India filthy despite visiting it not too long ago.

“Only an arrogant racist with a dirty mind can speak like this about my country,” an Indian user wrote on Twitter.

Not only within India but Trump’s searing remarks against the South Asian country has triggered humongous reactions globally in the light of India and USA’s close partnership. From Indian expats to international observers, the embarrassing reference of the country in the presidential debate by the current President Trump, raise questions of the bilateral relations as well as the bonding between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump.

https://twitter.com/AudreyTruschke/status/1319465989982031872?s=20

The critics of PM Modi within India have initiated an onslaught of criticism against the ruling party, BJP following the comments of Trump in a widely-watched presidential debate yesterday.

Meanwhile, the official Twitter account of PM Modi is silent. So far, Indian government has not issued any official statement on the issue.

Several Indian journalists, on the other hand, believes that Democrats will cash in with the ‘filthy India’ remarks to garner votes of Indian diaspora in the USA.

Trump account hacked by researcher

According to reports in foreign media, a Dutch cybersecurity researcher has broken into US President Donald Trump’s Twitter account by guessing his password as ‘maga2020’. In a TechCrunch report on Thursday, Victor Gevers, a security researcher at the GDI Foundation and chair of the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure, said that he guessed the US President’s account password and was successful on the fifth attempt.

“After logging in, he emailed US-CERT to disclose the security lapse,” the report said. Gevers said Trump’s Twitter password was changed shortly after. Trump’s account was not protected by two-factor authentication, thus granting Gevers access to the President’s account.

In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said: “We’ve seen no evidence to corroborate this claim.” This is the second time that Gevers has gained access to Trump’s Twitter account. In 2016, Gevers and two others had extracted and cracked Trump’s password as “yourefired”.

AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk