Donald Trump Jr. Likes India’s Poor Because They ‘Smile’
'I don't want to be glib but you can see the poorest of the poor and there is still a smile on a face,' the president’s son said during a trip to promote luxury condos.
Adnan Abidi / Reuters
After spending the weekend trying to convince his father to stand firm on gun rights in the wake of the deadliest school shooting since Newtown, Donald Trump Jr. arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday to promote his family’s real-estate interests in India.
But before his scheduled “foreign policy speech” alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this week, Trump Jr. sat down for an interview with CNBC India and did his best to flatter the local population.
“I think there is something about the spirit of the Indian people that is unique here to other parts of the emerging world,” the first son said. “You go through a town, and I don't mean to be glib about it, but you can see the poorest of the poor and there is still a smile on a face,” continued Trump Jr., not being glib.
“It is a different spirit than that which you see in other parts of the world where people walk around to solemn, and I think there is something unique about that. It doesn’t exist elsewhere.”
“I know some of the most successful businessmen in the world, and some of them are the most miserable people in the world,” Trump Jr. added, without naming names.
He went on to say that he understands there are real “hardships” in India but believes there is something fundamentally “different” about the poor people there compared to others the presidential scion has apparently encountered around the world.
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The flattery continued when Trump Jr. was asked by journalists to compare the real-estate investment markets in India and China. “As a businessman, I feel things here are substantially more above-board,” he said. “I think the mentality of the people is the same. I think there is probably little bit more honesty.”
Of course, Trump Jr. was speaking only “as a businessman” and not as the eldest son of the president of the United States.
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