Washington: President Donald Trump has praised India and said that he has a "very good friend" leading the country. Earlier in the day, Trump reposted a racist remark by American political commentator and radio host Michael Savage's podcast, where he referred to India, China and other nations as "hell holes".
Christopher Elms, spokesperson for the US Embassy in New Delhi, relayed that the Republican leader spoke warmly of India, calling it a great nation and noting that he shares a personal friendship with its leader. "India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top," Trump said.
In his call for changes in the United States' birthright citizenship law, Savage alleged that people from the two Asian nations come to the US to "drop a baby in the ninth month", and the law turns them into "instant" US citizens.
Trump shared the transcript and video of Savage's podcast 'Savage Nation', where he slammed the US Supreme Court's arguments on birthright citizenship. The transcript describes Indian and Chinese immigrants as "gangsters with laptops" who have "stepped on our flag".
About three dozen countries provide automatic citizenship to people born on their soil, including US neighbors Canada and Mexico, and the majority of South American countries, CNN stated.
On Trump's post comparing India and China as "hell holes", India's Ministry of External Affairs said such remarks were "uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste", and that they did not reflect the true nature of bilateral ties.
