NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday took a swipe at the Congress party over former American President Donald Trump’s remarks describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the “nicest human being” and a “total killer”‘ in response to perceived threats. Taking to its official handle on X, the BJP compared PM Modi’s aggressive retaliation with Congress-led UPA’s “insipid response” to the terror attack in Mumbai.
“Former American President Donald Trump, in the Flagrant podcast, describes Prime Minister Modi as the nicest human being but also a total killer. He added that Modi took him by surprise with his threat of aggressive retaliation against Pakistan when he said we would handle them; India has defeated them for hundreds of years,” read BJP’s post.
“Compare this to Congress-led UPA’s insipid response in the wake of the horrific terror attack in Mumbai,” the post said. Former United States President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump expressed his adulation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and heaped praises, calling him his ‘friend’ and the “nicest human being” in a podcast episode.
Trump also described PM Modi’s change in demeanour in response to perceived threats and said that while the Prime Minister is the nicest, he can also be a total killer. His comments were made on an episode of the Flagrant podcast, hosted by Andrew Schulz and Akash Singh. While speaking about his assessment of world leaders on the podcast, Trump said, “Modi (India), he’s a friend of mine and also the nicest human being. On the outside, he looks like he’s your father. He is the nicest and a total killer.”
Trump also said that before Narendra Modi assumed office as India’s Prime Minister in 2014, there was instability due to frequent changes in the leadership. The former President further recalled the iconic “Howdy, Modi” event held in Texas in September 2019 when PM Modi addressed a large gathering of Indian-Americans at Houston city’s NRG Stadium.
“They did a thing called Howdy, Modi in Houston, Texas. It was me and him and it was beautiful. It was a gathering of around 80,000 people and it felt like crazy. We were walking about. Today, maybe I won’t be able to do something like that,” he said. Donald Trump also said that he shares a very good relationship with Narendra Modi, recalling a conversation that apparently involved India-Pakistan tensions.
Lavishing high praise on PM Modi, Trump described as a leader who is tough in dealing with India’s adversaries when required. Trump imitated PM Modi’s remarks and his tough tone and tenor on the question of dealing with the western neighbour who has been sponsoring cross-border terrorism. Without directly naming Pakistan, Trump said, “We have a very good relationship. He is the nicest human being, but we had a couple of occasions where somebody was threatening India, and I told Modi, let me help as I am very good with those people. To which he (Modi) aggressively responded, ‘I do it, I will handle it and would do anything necessary. We have defeated them for hundreds of years.’ And I said, whoa, what just happened there.”
Adding further, Trump said, “Now they’re all tough and they all are smart. PM Modi is a very good person. Some of them are good people and then and some are not. But they all are at tyhe top of their game.” Trump also said that before Narendra Modi assumed office as India’s Prime Minister in 2014, there was instability due to frequent changes in the leadership.
Trump spoke about his relationship with PM Modi around the 37-minute mark of the 88-minute-long interview. ‘Howdy Modi’ was an Indian diaspora event in Houston, Texas in 2019. The event at NRG Stadium saw a huge crowd and showcased the relationship between the two countries. PM Modi and Trump addressed the gathering. Trump has praised PM Modi earlier too and has described him as a “fantastic man”.
