US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday reiterated President Donald Trump’s comments praising India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the backdrop of controversy over anti-India rhetoric and racist comments coming out of the US.
When Rubio was asked about racist remarks coming from the US against Indians and Indian Americans at a joint press conference with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday, he dismissed them as “stupid comments” made by “stupid people”.
The US State Department posted a video of the question and Rubio’s response on social media on Sunday afternoon, but it was later removed.
The question about racist comments was an apparent reference to Trump’s amplification of a right-wing podcast, whose host referred to India and China as “hell” places, on social media in April.
Trump posted the transcript of “The Savage Nation” podcast on his Truth Social account. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the post at the time, calling the remarks “inappropriate and in bad taste.”
When Rubio was asked about the matter again on Monday by a journalist accompanying him on his visit to India, he initially said he did not know what the Indian reporter was talking about at Sunday’s press conference and assumed the issue was related to content posted online by “random voices.”
“I don’t even know – some of these might be trolls, or bots, I don’t know. That’s why I asked [the reporter] “Specifically — can you tell me what you’re talking about and who you’re talking about,” Rubio said.
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When the journalist pointed out that the Indian reporter was referring to content that referred to India as “hell,” Rubio responded: “I gave him the opportunity to tell me that, that’s not what he said. The president loves India. He said that last night… when he was invited to attend the event….”
Rubio was referring to Trump’s phone conversation with US Ambassador Sergio Gore at a ceremony held on Sunday evening to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence, during which President Modi described him as a “friend” and said he was a “big fan” of the Indian leader.
“The president is a big fan of India, a big fan of Prime Minister Modi. I wouldn’t be here if the president didn’t want me to be here. He wouldn’t have sent someone like Sergio to be our ambassador, who is someone very close to the president,” Rubio added.
Rubio responded to another question on whether the Indian side had raised concerns about Pakistan during their official meetings by saying, “No, I mean, look, they are concerned about things that they are always clearly concerned about. India always points to the fact that there are armed terrorist groups operating from Pakistani soil that are targeting India – and they are always concerned about it.”
“But as much of a role as they played [Pakistan] He played the role of mediator and facilitator in the Iranian situation, something that never happened. “I don’t think they will complain about that. I mean, their issues with Pakistan are different.”
The Indian side watched warily as Trump developed a personal relationship with Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir following a brief but intense conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025. Trump hosted Munir at the White House and called the Pakistani military commander his “favorite field marshal.”
Rubio sidestepped a question from Hizb ut-Tahrir at the press conference on Sunday about India’s concerns about renewed US engagement with Pakistan’s military leadership by saying the US has relationships and works at the tactical level with countries around the world. He added: “But I do not see that our relationship with any country in the world comes at the expense of our strategic alliance with India.”
