US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was put on the defensive during his first official visit to India when confronted about racist remarks Americans have made about Indians.
During a joint press conference with Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on Sunday, a local journalist asked Rubio about “a lot of racist comments” targeting Indians and Indian Americans in the US.
When Rubio asked him to clarify whose comments he was referring to, the reporter replied that the remarks were “pretty well known” and “endorsed,” without initially specifying further.
The journalist later posted on X that he was referring to US President Donald Trump’s recent post endorsing an American podcaster’s description of India as a “hellhole.” New Delhi had officially responded to the post, calling it “in poor taste.”
Rubio offered a general answer, saying there were “stupid people” everywhere, including in the US, who make “dumb comments all the time.” He then added that the US has been “enriched by people who have come to our country from all over the world, become Americans, assimilated into our way of life, and contributed greatly.”
The US State Department shared a clip of Rubio’s response on social media, but as the post went viral, it took it down, drawing even more attention to the controversy.
On Monday, Rubio was asked by an American journalist about the previous day’s exchange. He said he was not clear about the question, while repeating his comments about “people posting stuff online.” When told by the journalist that the question was linked to Trump’s earlier posts, Rubio countered back: “The president loves India. The president is a big fan of India, a big fan of PM Modi,” he added.
Rubio’s visit has been seen by foreign policy commentators as an attempt to mend ties strained by Trump’s tariff policy targeting India over its connection with Moscow. The trip also comes amid Washington’s growing closeness with India’s neighbor and rival, Pakistan, which is involved in mediating between the US and Iran.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods, including as punishment for buying discounted Russian oil.
Multiple reports suggested the move was indirectly linked to India’s refusal to acknowledge Trump’s role in brokering a ceasefire to end the four-day India–Pakistan military conflict in May 2025. While New Delhi maintains that the ceasefire was achieved bilaterally, Pakistan openly hailed Trump’s involvement and even advocated for him to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
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