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Trump prepares to woo Indian Americans at New Jersey rally
WASHINGTON:US Republican nominee Donald Trump will try on Saturday to peel Indian Americans away from the Democratic Party that they have historically supported,
WASHINGTON:US Republican nominee Donald Trump will try on Saturday to peel Indian Americans away from the Democratic Party that they have historically supported, a testimony to the growing clout of the tiny but prosperous community.
Though Trump’s direct pitch to the community will be partly Bollywood-themed, with entertainers flown in from India, the political message will not be lost on its members. This is the first time a presidential candidate is trying to woo them directly and not through surrogates.
Indian Americans have traditionally voted Democratic, and a recent poll showed only 7% of them planned to vote for Trump, compared to 67% for Hillary Clinton. They also overwhelmingly preferred the Democratic Party to the Republican.
The Republican Party has been working to change that for a while, with Chicago businessman Shalli Kumar among those leading the outreach. The Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC), which Kumar started in 2015, is hosting Saturday’s Trump event. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich is the RHC’s honorary chairman.
Kumar is also one of Trump’s top Indian American donors. He announced a contribution of $898,000 to the Trump Victory fund during the Republican convention in Cleveland in July. It was around then that he broached the event with Trump.
While announcing the event in August, Kumar told Hindustan Times that Trump was easily persuaded — “he agreed immediately”.
“He told me India was a great country, he liked Indian people,” Kumar said. “And he said he found Hindus to be peace-loving people.”
Though the event is being hosted by the RHC, organisers expect to see members of other faiths as well. It is not clear how many will show up, if at all. There are also some concerns over whether the event will attract enough people.
According to the 2016 National Asian American Survey, 79% of Indian Americans had an unfavourable opinion of the Trump, compared to 23% who thought poorly of Clinton, whose favourability stood at 71% compared to her rival’s 11%.
This is despite the fact that the only two Indian Americans ever elected governor — Nikki Haley in South Carolina and Bobby Jindal in Louisiana — were Republicans. While proud of them, the community has been slow to follow them.
The poll also found 78% of Indian Americans were against Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the US, a position he has since changed to talk about “extreme vetting” to keep out those with suspect intentions.
The number of Indian Americans is estimated to be around 3.5 million but only a third of them are reported to be voters.
