The American right-wing seems to have launched an anti-India campaign, with MAGA influencers fueling a hostile debate on social media with tension on trade, tariffs, and immigration as rallying points.
Prominent conservative voices in the US, mostly with large social media followings, have launched tirades on Indian workers, students, and even “call centres”, flooding platforms with posts that have drawn accusations of racism and hypocrisy. This comes amid tensions between both countries after Donald Trump imposed a cumulative 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, half of which is for buying Russian oil.
“Don’t forget that any trade deal with India will require us to give them more visas. I’d rather not pay them in visas and trade deficits. Let Modi see what terms he can get from Xi instead,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham wrote on X.
Another Donald Trump supporter, Charlie Kirk, who founded Turning Points USA, a conservative non-profit for high schools and colleges, accused Indian professionals of displacing American workers.
“America does not need more visas for people from India. Perhaps no form of legal immigration has so displaced American workers as those from India. Enough already. We’re full. Let’s finally put our own people first,” he wrote on X.
Far-right commentator and a podcast host on Kirk’s platform, Jack Posobiec, demanded sweeping tariffs on sectors dominated by India’s outsourcing industry.
“Tariff the call centers. All of them. Tariff all foreign call centers and foreign remote workers. 100% tariff,” he wrote in two separate posts.
The American right wing has shifted its tone significantly since the 2024 US election, when large numbers of Indian American voters supported Donald Trump and the Republican Party for the first time, shifting from traditionally voting democrat.
The online campaign can also be seen in light of Trump’s recent comments. In them, he labelled the US-India trade relationship a “one-sided disaster,” alleging that New Delhi has imposed unfair tariffs on American products while profiting from Russian energy purchases.
The pushback on Donald Trump supporters
While many right-wingers joined in the anti-India campaign, some also pushed back on the narrative. They pointed out that many Indian-Americans had shifted towards the Republican Party, helping Donald Trump win the 2024 presidential election, only to regret the vitriol that came later.
“I am shocked, although I perhaps shouldn’t be, at how a certain faction of the right has managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. I know so many Indian-American voters who went GOP for the first time in 2024… only to regret it just months later, seeing this rhetoric. Limit visas, restrict immigration, whatever, some restrictions are definitely necessary. But this is just blatant racism, call me a lib if you want,” a user wrote.
According to journalist Billy Binion, it was ‘entitlement’ that was fueling the campaign against immigration in general and India in particular.
“Call this what it is: entitlement. Some conservatives don’t want competition from hardworking immigrants who outwork & outperform them. And here I’d been told progressives are the ones against merit,” he wrote.
Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna accused President Trump of endangering decades of bipartisan work on the bilateral relationship.
“We can’t allow the ego of Donald Trump to destroy a strategic relationship with India, that is key to ensuring that America leads and not China,” he said.
Indians account for 75 per cent of H-1B visa holders, driving key innovations in Silicon Valley firms such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. More than 2,00,000 Indian students study in the United States, contributing billions of dollars annually to university budgets and local economies.
Supporters of continued Indian migration argue that restricting these pathways risks undermining US competitiveness in technology and higher education.
