US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was seen visibly uncomfortable while responding to a question about racism targeting Indians and Indian-Americans in the United States during a joint media interaction in New Delhi alongside External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Sunday, 24th May.
During the press briefing, Rubio appeared momentarily uncomfortable when Journalist Sidhant Sibal asked about racist comments and hostility faced by Indians and Indian-origin communities in the United States. At first, he seemed to pretend he had not fully understood the question and briefly paused before responding cautiously.
"Who said that…", US Secretary of State Rubio in response to my question on racism agaisnt Indians in US.
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) May 24, 2026
US President Donald Trump had endorsed a post terming India "Hellhole" pic.twitter.com/UC37RYIcHK
He then gave a defensive reply, saying such comments come from “stupid people” and should not be seen as representative of the United States as a whole.
“I’ll take that very seriously about the comments,” Rubio 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. I’m sure there are stupid people here; there are stupid people in the United States who make dumb comments all the time.”
Racism question to Rubio by @sidhant in the Joint Press Statement today in New Delhi . Rubio caught completely off-guard. Looks like Rubio wasn’t entirely prepared for this obvious question. https://t.co/HUO4GNNrSu pic.twitter.com/9m4lEg8XH6
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) May 24, 2026
Rubio further tried to present the United States as an immigrant-friendly nation and stressed that Indians and other immigrant communities had contributed significantly 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,” he added.
Interestingly, just last month, on 23rd April, US President Donald Trump himself shared a controversial Truth Social post that included derogatory remarks about India. Trump reposted comments from far-right commentator Michael Savage, who referred to India and other countries as “hellholes” while criticising birthright citizenship and immigration.
One of the remarks made by Trump said, “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.”
Rubio is currently on a four-day visit to India and also held meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of wider discussions on India-US ties and strategic cooperation.
