Marco Rubio seemingly forgot about his own boss’ online vitriol as he shrugged off “racist comments” towards India as nothing more than chatter from “stupid people” during a press conference in New Delhi.
The secretary of state appeared stunned when a reporter asked him about the “endorsement” of anti-Indian remarks “coming from the U.S.,” apparently in reference to a diplomatic scandal last month after President Donald Trump shared comments on Truth Social branding India a “hellhole.”
“Who made those comments?” Rubio asked.
“We all have seen those comments, sir,” the reporter replied.
“Which ones?” Rubio said, appearing confused.
He went on to promise to “take that very seriously” before appearing to dance around the question.
“I’m sure there are people that have made comments online and other places, because every country in the world has stupid people. I’m sure there are stupid people here, there are stupid people in the U.S. who make dumb comments all the time,” he said.
Rubio, 54, then praised America’s treatment of immigrants, saying: “I don’t know what else to tell you other than the United States is a very welcoming country.”
The reporter, Sidhant Sibal of WIONews, later clarified on X that he had been referring specifically to Trump sharing a post that described India as a “hellhole.”
The State Department shared a statement on social media quoting Rubio’s response to the question, before quickly deleting the post.
Last month, Trump strained U.S.-Indian relations after sharing a four-page transcript of comments made by ‘white genocide’ proponent Michael Savage on his podcast The Savage Nation.
“A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the entire family in from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet,” one excerpt from Savage read, as posted on Trump’s Truth Social.
Alongside branding India a “hellhole,” Savage’s comments shared by Trump alleged that Indian “high tech” workers in California were purposefully not hiring white men into the industry.
At the time, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Shri Randhir Jaiswal responded in a statement: “We have seen the comments, as also the subsequent statement issued by the US Embassy in response.
“The remarks are obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste. They certainly do not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests.”
Part of Rubio’s job during his four-day India trip is to smooth over relations, which have become fraught despite the U.S. being India’s largest trading partner.
Last summer, Trump was branded “hostile” for leveraging a 50 percent tariff on India, half of which was punishment for the country buying Russian oil—while Trump has now given Putin an extended sanctions lift.
The tariff was lowered to 18 percent in February as part of a new trade agreement expected to be ironed out by Rubio on his trip, alongside energy issues due to the Iran war, and Washington’s growing closeness with Pakistan.
