In an attempt to malign Donald Trump Jr during his visit to India, Washington Post quoted Donald Trump Jr partially in a headline to project him as someone who romanticises poverty, while enjoying all the wealth in his personal life. Twitter soon found out what Trump Jr had said and criticised the Washington Post journalist who had shared the article titled Donald Trump Jr. says he likes India’s poor people because they ‘smile’.
Donald Trump Jr. says he likes India’s poor people because they ‘smile’ https://t.co/UVmiGGAnMr
— Annie Gowen (@anniegowen) February 20, 2018
The actual statement of Donald Trump Jr is below. He had said :
“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. It’s a different spirit that you don’t see in other parts of the world … and I think there’s something unique about that. I know some of the most successful people in the world, and some of them are the most miserable people in the world.”
“You go through a town…. you can see the poorest of the poor and there’s still a smile on their face.”
Donald Trump Jr. arrives in India on a week-long visit to help attract buyers for his family’s luxury apartments. pic.twitter.com/wPHyBQpwi7
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 20, 2018
Twitter users quoted the above tweet and exposed the bias of Washington Post.
See? Media twisted this statement into their assholery.
Agreeing/disagreeing that the poor are smiling is different to what media made it.https://t.co/wq9EYGAJk2.
— prasanna (@Flyfiddlesticks) February 22, 2018
What a pathetic, clickbait of a headline and tweet. Is this what @washingtonpost is reduced to in India? https://t.co/6Y8w4fA6ex
— Abhinav Agarwal (@AbhinavAgarwal) February 22, 2018
Washington post journalist twisted the statement of Donald Trump Junior and sold it as poverty porn on twitter. The article with a clickbait headline soon found traction among detractors of Trump in India as well.
And India’s journalists like Trump Jr. because he too smiles at them https://t.co/WHFldBXssY
— Rohin Dharmakumar (@r0h1n) February 21, 2018
At least now we know dickishness is a genetic trait passed down from the father’s side. https://t.co/D2S4x6UH2F
— Brown Sahiba (@Rajyasree) February 21, 2018
Someone slap this joker. https://t.co/jB07o2khXT
— priyanka jain (@priyankajain1) February 21, 2018
The actual content of Donald Trump Jr cannot be construed as anti-poor or romanticisation of poverty. It is just an opinion or observation about how some rich people can be miserable while poor manage to be happy in spite of difficulties. Trump felt this trait of Indians to be unique in the developing world, and a trait which he has rarely seen anywhere else in the world. To project it as a hypocritical statement that glorifies poverty is incorrect and misplaced.
