Donald Trump allegedly puts on an Indian accent when he repeats comments made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The POTUS and Mr Modi are said to have a warm relationship, but this latest revelation may cause tension between the two countries. The detail was revealed by the Washington Post in a report on a meeting between the two world leaders last year.
Mr Trump is said to have imitated the accent of Mr Modi, who can speak and understand English but prefers to speak in his native Hindi, and claimed that he said to him: ‘Never has a country given so much away for so little in return’ as the United States in Afghanistan. He also claimed the Indian leader’s comments was evidence that the rest of the world saw the US as being taken advantage of in Afghanistan. Since the revelation, a number of people have branded Mr Trump’s alleged behaviour ‘appalling’.
US Congressman, Raja Krishnamoorthi, shared a statement on his Twitter, which said: ‘I was appalled to read that President Trump reportedly affected an Indian accent to imitate Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ‘Americans are not defined by their accents, but by their commitment to this nation’s values and ideals.’ It’s not the first time Trump has been called out for mocking accents.
Last year, he was criticised for using an exaggerated Spanish accent during a speech marking Hispanic Heritage Month at the White House. And in another speech in Delaware, the president claimed he called up his credit card company to find out whether their customer support was based in the US or overseas.
He said: ‘Guess what, you’re talking to a person from India. How the hell does that work?’ He then mocked the response he allegedly received when he asked where the call handler was from. ‘We are from India’, Mr Trump said.
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