Happy Diwali: Donald Trump Wishes Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs. Forgets Hindus
Trump, immediately after initially not including Hindus in his first Diwali tweet, deleted it and reposted another tweet, that still left out Hindus.
“Today, we gathered for Diwali, a holiday observed by Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains throughout the United States & around the world. Hundreds of millions of people have gathered with family & friends to light the Diya and to mark the beginning of a New Year,” tweeted US President Donald Trump, a week after Diwali.
Today, we gathered for Diwali, a holiday observed by Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains throughout the United States & around the world. Hundreds of millions of people have gathered with family & friends to light the Diya and to mark the beginning of a New Year. https://t.co/epHogpTY1A pic.twitter.com/9LUwnhngWJ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
Apart from getting the date wrong, Trump also forgot to mention the key demographic that celebrates Diwali — Hindus. What is more bizarre still is that Trump, immediately after initially not including Hindus in his first Diwali tweet, deleted it and reposted another tweet, that still left out Hindus. This despite the fact that a lot of American Indians — especially Hindus — hold some key offices in the Trump administration: Krishna R Urs, Manisha Singh, Neil Chatterjee, Raj Shah, Neomi Rao, Ajit Pai and more.
Trumps tweet is likely to lose him some Indian fans. Members of the Hindu Sena, who celebrate Trump’s birthday with cake, havans and life-size photos of the US President, and share common interests like Islamophobia and xenophobia, would not be too please to learn that their beloved foreign leader makes such gaffes.
Trump’s tweet has already earned some backlash and mockery.
Don’t forget to honor Hindus in their holy month of Ramadan. https://t.co/pfD13pxXm0
— Edward Luce (@EdwardGLuce) November 13, 2018
This is terrible. It’s unconscionable @realDonaldTrump did not know Diwali was a Hindu holiday. So embarrassing. https://t.co/Ggx9OWcuVO
— Annie Gowen (@anniegowen) November 14, 2018
wow it’s like he picked all the multiple choice answers except the right one which kind of sums him up https://t.co/geBYIJLV1Y
— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) November 13, 2018
Wait til India wakes up and sees this @realDonaldTrump. They will not be pleased. https://t.co/Ggx9OWcuVO
— Annie Gowen (@anniegowen) November 14, 2018
Hindus, meanwhile, don’t observe Diwali. https://t.co/GHTx55aSYM
— Nikesh Shukla (@nikeshshukla) November 13, 2018
Merry Christmas to all the Muslims and Jews https://t.co/0nTHXWako0
— Shuja Haider (@shujaxhaider) November 13, 2018
Hindu Khatre mein hai. He didn’t mention them https://t.co/Ykyf90AzI6
— Joy (@Joydas) November 13, 2018