Three attempts were required before President Donald Trump could get his tweet on Diwali celebrations in the White House right on Tuesday night as he forgot to mention the Hindu origin of the festival of lights.
While much of India slept through it all, there were enough Indian-origin people and others in the US itself who called out the gaffe-prone Potus for his blunder.
While he deleted his first tweet, he made the same mistake in the second attempt: “Today, we gathered for Diwali, a holiday observed by Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains throughout the United States & around the world. Hundreds of millions of people have gathered with family & friends to light the Diya and to mark the beginning of a New Year….”
Amid a tweet-storm of responses -– pointing out that he still had not got it right — he finally set the record straight a few minutes later with: “It was my great honor to host a celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, in the Roosevelt Room at the @WhiteHouse this afternoon. Very, very special people!’’
He was tweeting with pictures — that included Indian ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna in the frame — of the Diwali ceremonial lighting of the diya in the White House.
Given the similarity in the politics of Trump and the right-wing ecosystem in India, there was not much of a backlash from expected quarters which was anyway also pleased by the praise the President heaped on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him “my friend”.
About bilateral relations, Trump said: “The United States has deep ties to the nation of India, and I am grateful for my friendship with Prime Minister Modi.
“We’re trying very hard to make better trade deals with India, but they’re very good traders. They’re very good negotiators, you would say, right? The best. So we’re working, and it’s moving along.’’
White House has been celebrating Diwali since 2009, the very first year of the 44th Potus, Barack Obama.
Given the similarity in the politics of Trump and the right-wing ecosystem in India, there was not much of a backlash from expected quarters which was anyway also pleased by the praise the President heaped on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him “my friend”.
About bilateral relations, Trump said: “The United States has deep ties to the nation of India, and I am grateful for my friendship with Prime Minister Modi. We’re trying very hard to make better trade deals with India, but they’re very good traders. They're very good negotiators, you would say, right? The best. So we’re working, and it’s moving along.”
White House has been celebrating Diwali since 2009, the very first year of the 44th Potus, Barack Obama.
