Trump's racism is showing, calls India and China 'hellholes'

GRAPHIC BY FOSSBYTES

Donald Trump no longer even tries to hide his racism anymore. He has once again set the AAPI community on fire, this time by hitting "repost" on a racist, xenophobic screed that labels India and China as "hellholes."

The post, shared on Truth Social, wasn't just a random jab; it was a transcript from Michael Savage’s podcast that took aim at birthright citizenship and the 14th Amendment. 

The rant didn’t stop at the "hellhole" label, either. It painted Indian and Chinese immigrants as "gangsters with laptops" who "step on our flag" while allegedly scamming the U.S. immigration system to bring in their entire families.

Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) and char of the Congressional Asian Pacific Americans Caucus (CAPAC), warned that amplifying this bigotry "pours fuel on an already dangerous fire" for Asian Americans.

For those of us watching the rise in anti-Asian hate, this rhetoric is a terrifyingly familiar dog whistle.

'Gangsters with laptops'

The reposted tirade accused Indian and Chinese professionals in the US tech industry of being "gangsters with laptops" who do not hire white native-born Americans.

The post targeted Indian immigrants specifically, claiming they lack English proficiency and suggesting an "internal mechanism" exists to favor Indian and Chinese hiring in tech.

The shared text alleged that immigrants from China and India are "stepped on our flag" and use birthright citizenship to "drop a baby in the ninth month...and then bring in all ancestors from India/China."

By accusing pregnant mothers of arriving in the US in their ninth month to "dorp a baby" in order to secure US citizenship. Trump used the podcast to inflame racists who support him to try and pressure the US Supreme Court in a case before them that seeks to challenge the 14th Amendment that guarantees birthright citizenship.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who was born in India, blasted Trump's comments as "disgusting" and "rooted in white supremacy."

View from the edge

It is not the first time Trump has shown his true colors. Critics argue that Donald Trump's use of phrases like "Kung Flu" or "Chinese Virus" during the COVID-19 pandemic fueled anti-Asian sentiment, contributing to a framatic rise in hate-fueld incidents documented by groups like Stop AAPI Hate.

By consistently linking the virus to China, critics argue Trump encouraged a "Yellow Peril" stereotype, framing Asian Americans as "perpetual foreigners" or disease carriers responsible for the pandemic's impact on the US.

A 2020 report from Stop AAPI Hate described Trump as a major "spreader" of anti-Asian rhetoric, which they linked to a surge in harassment, verbal assaults, and physical attacks against Asian Americans.

The fallout from the most recent tirade wasn't just domestic. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs called the remarks "uninformed" and "in poor taste." Meanwhile, the US Embassy in New Delhi scrambled to do damage control. Rather than a direct apology, Trump issued a statement through the Embass, saying, "India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top," referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Trump's immigration policy reflects his bias while dissuading immigration from "s--thole" countries, primarily from Africa, the Middle Est and the Caribbean, he wished more white immigrants would come from European countries and South Africa.

But for the AAPI community, the damage is already done. When the leader of the country signals that your ancestral homeland is a "hellhole" and your professional success is a "scam," it’s more than just bad politics — it's a target on our backs.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge.