A routine press conference in New Delhi during United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s India visit saw him respond to a question on racist remarks against Indians.
The US State Department later deleted the social media clip featuring his comments.
The question that put Rubio on the spot
The controversy began during a joint press interaction in New Delhi alongside India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Sunday.
A journalist raised concerns about racist comments directed at Indians and Indian-Americans originating from the United States and suggested that such remarks contradicted the foundations of the India-US partnership.
“We have a lot of racist comments coming from the United States against Indians, Indian Americans. This goes against the basic premise of the India-US relationship. What’s your take on that?” Rubio was asked.
The question was widely understood to refer to a controversy from earlier this year involving Trump’s amplification on social media of a podcaster’s remark describing India as a “hellhole”. The
post had drawn sharp criticism in India and prompted an official response from New Delhi.
Rubio initially appeared uncertain about the exact reference being made and sought clarification from the reporter. “Who made those comments?” Rubio asked. “Which ones?”
The journalist responded that the remarks were “pretty well known” and that “we have seen endorsement of those comments”, though Trump was not directly named during the exchange.
Rubio then gave a broad response addressing online rhetoric more generally. “I don’t know how to address that but I’ll take that very seriously, about the comments,” he said.
“I’m sure that there are people who have made comments online and in other places because every country in the world has stupid people,” Rubio added.
“I’m sure there are stupid people here. There are stupid people in the United States who make dumb comments all the time.” He also defended the contribution of immigrants to American society.
“Our nation 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 controversy intensified because the “dumb comments” being referenced had been amplified by Trump himself on social media earlier this year.
Critics on social media quickly pointed out that Rubio’s remarks could therefore be interpreted as indirectly describing the US president’s conduct as “stupid”, even if Rubio had not explicitly mentioned Trump.
The backlash rapidly spread online, with users sharing clips of Rubio’s answer and arguing that the secretary of state had inadvertently criticised the US president while standing in India.
The episode became particularly awkward because Rubio is one of the most senior members of the Trump administration and was in New Delhi specifically to strengthen bilateral ties after months of friction between Washington and New Delhi.
By Monday, the US State Department had removed the video clip containing Rubio’s remarks from its official social media account.
The deletion itself then became another story. Observers noted that the State Department appeared eager to avoid amplifying language that could be interpreted as critical of Trump.
Commentators also argued that the incident illustrated the political sensitivities inside the Trump administration surrounding any public remarks that could be construed as contradicting or criticising the president.
Rubio later clarified what he meant
Rubio later said he did not initially understand that the journalist was referring to Trump’s social media activity and instead believed the question concerned anonymous online commentary.
“I don’t know who he was talking about. I figured, I assumed that he was talking about people posting stuff online,” Rubio said.
“I don’t even know, some of those could be a troll, it could be a bot, I don’t know. So that’s why I asked him specifically, can you tell me what you’re talking about and who you’re talking about. He didn’t have a specific example.”
Rubio stressed that the reporter had multiple opportunities to explicitly mention Trump but did not do so. “Well, I gave him a chance to tell me that, that’s not what he said,” Rubio stated.
The secretary of state also sought to firmly reiterate Trump’s support for India and his personal relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The president loves India. He said it last night, were you guys there when he called in for the event last night, the 250? The president’s a big fan of India, a big fan of Prime Minister Modi.”
“I wouldn’t be here if the president didn’t want me to be here. He wouldn’t have sent someone like Sergio to be our ambassador, someone who’s very close to the president.”
Rubio again returned to the broader issue of inflammatory content online. “So I just assumed he was talking just about random voices out there. I mean, people say stupid stuff all the time on social media, and every country in the world, unfortunately,” he added.
The “hellhole” controversy and India’s response
The exchange stemmed from an incident in April when Trump shared a social media post by an American podcaster that described India as a “hellhole”.
At the time, India’s Ministry of External Affairs
responded publicly without directly naming Trump. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the remarks “certainly do not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests.”
The controversy came during a period when relations between the two countries were already facing strain over several policy disputes.
Trump’s tariff policies had become a major source of tension, particularly after Washington imposed steep duties on Indian goods and criticised India’s continued purchase of discounted Russian oil.
Immigration policies under the Trump administration had also generated concerns among sections of the Indian diaspora and policymakers in New Delhi.
At the same time, there were signs of strategic divergence between Washington and New Delhi on certain geopolitical issues, even as both governments continued to emphasise defence and Indo-Pacific cooperation.
Rubio’s India visit and the effort to repair ties
Rubio arrived in India on Saturday for a four-day trip intended to reinforce cooperation across defence, trade and technology sectors.
During the visit, he met Modi in New Delhi and discussed what officials described as continued progress in bilateral engagement across multiple areas.
Following the meeting, Modi stated that India and the United States would continue working closely for the “global good”.
Rubio also invited Modi to visit the White House, reflecting ongoing efforts to maintain top-level political engagement between the two governments.
The secretary of state emphasised that the Trump administration’s tariff measures should not be viewed as specifically targeting India. “There virtually is no country in the world that I could travel to that isn’t going to raise the issue of trade because we did this from a global perspective,” Rubio said.
Tensions had deepened after Modi publicly downplayed Trump’s role in helping broker a ceasefire following the four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan last year.
Pakistan openly praised Trump following the ceasefire efforts and even advocated for him to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. India, however, avoided publicly crediting Washington for mediation, creating friction with Trump.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on Indian goods and penalise purchases of Russian oil.
Despite these disagreements, both sides have continued to stress the strategic importance of the relationship, particularly as concerns over China’s growing regional influence remain central to Indo-Pacific diplomacy.
Quad meeting takes centre stage
Rubio’s visit also coincided with preparations for
the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi involving India, the United States, Japan and Australia.
The grouping, which focuses heavily on Indo-Pacific security and regional cooperation, has increasingly been viewed as a key platform through which the four countries coordinate their response to China’s expanding influence.
The meeting between the foreign ministers — Rubio, Jaishankar, Australia’s Penny Wong and Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi — marked the third such gathering since September 2024.
The four nations had originally expected to organise a Quad summit in India last year, but those plans failed to materialise amid tensions between Trump and Modi over tariffs and other disagreements.
Rubio nevertheless stressed Washington’s commitment to the grouping and argued that the Quad should evolve into a more action-oriented mechanism.
“We don’t just want the Quad to be a semi-annual meeting of like-minded countries,” Rubio said in an interview with Indian media. “We want it to actually be a forum on which we continue to partner on things.”
He added that Washington hoped the Quad would pursue “concrete actions” on issues including maritime security and critical minerals cooperation.
Rubio also said diplomats from the four countries would continue working toward organising a leaders’ summit later this year. “I don’t have a date on that yet, but hopefully this year we’ll find a time for all four leaders to get together,” Rubio said.
Trump’s outreach to India during Rubio’s visit
Even as the Rubio controversy unfolded, the Trump administration made visible efforts to publicly emphasise warmth toward India.
During a gala reception in New Delhi marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, Rubio was presented with a cake during the reception hosted by US ambassador Sergio Gor.
Gor made a surprise call to Trump,
allowing the US president to address attendees directly over speakerphone. “I love India,” Trump said during the call.
“I love the prime minister. Modi is great. He’s my friend, and I just want to say a very, very good evening to everybody this morning here, and this evening there.”
“And I just want to say, you’re great. We’ve never been closer to India, and India can count on me 100% and our country.”
“If they ever need help, they know who they call. They call right here. We’re doing well. We’re setting records. We have a record economy, a record stock market, and anything India wants again. And I’m a big, big fan of prime minister Modi.
With inputs from agencies
First Published:
May 26, 2026, 11:08 IST
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