Racism and rank xenophobia tend to be poison pills as far as international relations are concerned.
The Trump administration — despite its chest-beating and appearing to relish embodying the “ugly American” stereotype — is learning this firsthand in its dealings with India.
Indian Americans helped elect Donald Trump in 2024. Nonetheless, some in the MAGA movement have flaunted anti-Indian bigotry, including through racist attacks on Trump-aligned figures such as FBI Director Kash Patel, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and cybersecurity official Madhu Gottumukkala.
Trump himself faced condemnation from Indian officials recently after he reposted a racist social media post that grouped India with “hellhole” countries.
Those comments have added tension to America’s relationship with India, on top of the tension Trump’s tariffs and war with Iran have already created. That helps explain why multiple outlets framed Rubio’s visit to India as an effort to “mend” or “repair” strained ties.
In a rather awkward exchange during the visit, a journalist pressed the secretary of state to talk about racist comments made by Americans toward India. Rubio responded by saying he takes it “very seriously,” before attributing such remarks to “stupid people.”
“Look, I’m sure that there are people that have made comments online and other places because every country in the world has stupid people,” he said. “I’m sure there are stupid people here; there are stupid people in the United States that make dumb comments — all the time.”
Much like Trump ally Laura Loomer, who backed off some of her bigoted rhetoric about India when she faced questioning during a March visit to New Delhi, Rubio discovered that some members of the foreign press are unafraid of calling out the cloud of bigotry hanging over the MAGA movement.
That said, minimizing racist and xenophobic remarks as “dumb” or “stupid” tends to make it easy for people in powerful positions, like Rubio, to avoid talking about how such bigotry has the potential to fuel discrimination and even violence. Last week’s shooting at a San Diego mosque, by two teenagers who appear to have been inspired by white supremacist rhetoric, offers a prime example of this threat.
Just because racism from Trump and members of his movement is “stupid” doesn’t preclude it from being dangerous — and worth taking seriously.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.