TRUMP’s 1st campaign video recalls his historic visit to India

AHEAD  of the November 3 US presidential election, Trump campaign managers have made public their first video commercial containing short clips with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches and  President Donald Trump’s historic address in Ahmedabad on February 24 this year.PM Modi and President  Trump addressed a huge crowd in Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel Cricket Stadium during the US president’s visit to India. He along with  Melania also visited Sabarmati Ashram associated with Mahatma  Gandhi and several other independence activists, reports PTI. Later, Trump accompanied by Melania, daughter Ivanka, and son-in-law Jared Kushner visited historic Taj Mahal and arrived in New Delhi for interaction with PM Modi.”America enjoys a great relationship with India and our campaign enjoys great support from Indian-Americans!” Kimberly Guilfoyle, national chair of Trump Victory Finance Committee, said in a tweet releasing the video commercial. The president’s son Donald Trump Jr, who is leading the campaign and is well connected with the Indian-American community, also retweeted it as the commercial soon became viral on social media with over 66,000 views on Twitter in the first few hours. Titled “Four More Years” the 107-second video starts with the iconic footage of Modi and Trump walking hand in hand at the NRG Stadium in Houston during the prime minister’s visit to the US last year wherein the leaders of the world’s two largest democracies made a joint address before a strong crowd of Indian-Americans numbering more than 50,000. Amidst cheering of thousands of his supporters in the US, Modi is seen as saying that Trump “needs no introduction” and that “his name comes up in almost every conversation. “He is the president of the United States of America “Mr. Donald Trump”, the prime minister says at the start of the video, that has been conceptualised by Al Mason, co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian American Finance Committee. Modi is highly popular among Indian-Americans. His star appeal has attracted record crowds. His address at the Madison Square Garden in 2015 and then in Silicon Valley two years later, both attracting more than 20,000 people, making the prime minister perhaps the only foreign leader in recent memory to have addressed such huge rallies in the US. His “Howdy Modi” address in Houston last September was attended by a record 50,000 people. Trump made a solo trip to Houston to join Modi in addressing the historic rally. After Modi introduces Trump to “my family”, the second part of the commercial has clips form Trump’s address in Ahmedabad this February. “America loves India. America respects India. And America will always be a faithful and loyal friend to the Indian people,” Trump says in the commercial in which he praises the contribution of four million Indian-Americans. “They are truly spectacular people,” the president said. The commercial has been made comes following research by Mason in battleground States according to which the Indian-Americans, who traditionally vote for the Democrats, are switching over to the Republican party because the friendship that Trump has with Modi and the latter’s high popularity among a large section of the community, of which 2.5 million are eligible to vote. In the battleground States the Indian-Americans number 1.3 million as per a recent statement made by the Indian-Americans in the Democratic Party. Mason’s survey was conducted before former vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, selected Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, a move the Democratic Party leader believes would stem the flow of Indian-Americans towards the Republicans. However, both President Trump and his campaign, in recent remarks, asserted that more Indian-Americans support them than the Democrats. In various writings and statements, the Democratic leaders in recent weeks have apprehended that Trump’s friendship with Modi might sway their traditional vote bank this November election. Trump has repeatedly heaped on Inia and  PM Modi. The warm friendship between India under Modi and the North American nation led by Trump has not only rattled PRC  and its allies but also several intellectuals including academics in the two democracies resulting in the posturing by Beijing at the Indo-China LAC. edited by PK Chakravarty.