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[Saya]

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Donald Trump is anything but a man of few words.

Especially on Twitter, the US president scarcely restrains himself from reacting to a range of events. In the last few days, for instance, his official Twitter handle @POTUS and personal handle @realDonaldTrump have produced the usual flurry of tweets, covering everything from fake news and the leaking of confidential information to a museum visit and shootings in Chicago.

Yet, the voluble president hasn’t uttered a word on the shooting in Kansas that killed 32-year-old Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla and injured two others. Kuchibhotla and his colleague, Alok Madasani, were grabbing a beer at a bar in Olathe when they were attacked by 51-year-old Adam Purinton, who apparently mistook them for Middle Eastern men. Ian Grillot, a patron who tried to intervene, was seriously injured.

“Get out of my country,” Purinton allegedly shouted, before opening fire.

So far, the Trump administration has said precious little. When White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked about a possible link between Trump’s rhetoric and rising racist violence, his response was this: “Obviously, any loss of life is tragic, but I’m not going to get into, like, to suggest that there’s any correlation I think is a bit absurd. So I’m not going to go any further than that.”

Trump’s silence is unsettling—and infuriating—for more than one reason.

By choosing not to openly condemn the attack in Kansas at a time when the US is deeply divided along racial lines, Trump risks giving the impression that he cares little for America’s influential Indian immigrants—or Indians in general.

“If the situation in Kansas were reversed, if two Indian immigrants attacked a group of white patrons to intimidate the larger community, there’s little question that Trump would respond with anger and condemnation,” Slate’s Jamelle Bouie wrote last week.

Such a stance flies in the face of Trump’s pre-election proclamation that the US and India would be “best friends” if he made it to the White House. “If I’m elected president, the Indian and Hindu community will have a true friend in the White House, that I can guarantee you,” he said last October at a campaign event organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition in New Jersey.

Indian-Americans are among the most successful and educated minority groups in the US today, with a particularly strong presence in the technology sector. And a legion of middle-class Indian engineers—some of who have risen to the top of Silicon Valley—have bolstered the community’s grip on the industry, while raising its profile globally.

That is why the attack in Kansas—and the lack of a response—has touched a raw nerve: What did a well-educated, law-abiding, and legally-employed immigrant do to deserve this?

“The situation seems to be pretty bad after Trump took over as the US President,” Madasani Jaganmohan Reddy, Alok Madasani’s father, said last week. “I appeal to all the parents in India not to send their children to the US in the present circumstances.”

India’s $146 billion information technology (IT) industry, the main exporter of Indian immigrants to the US, already fears that Trump’s clampdown on work-visa programmes might make life difficult. So, the lack of empathy from the White House after the Kansas shooting will only add to the anxiety.

 

[Jeels]

It's not an issue to him or his supporters.

 

[shem935]

Because that was the intent of his rhetoric. He doesn't give a shit about terrorism that doesn't let him build a whiter nation.

It helps him because it sends the message that they aren't welcome and as mentioned in the linked article it will scare away foreigners from living here.

 

[Poltergust]

As someone who has several close friends who are Indians, I really hope things will be OK for them.

 

[tuxfool]

It's not an issue to him or his supporters.

Yeah. Nobody should expect anything out of him on this.

 

[Jonnax]

I don't get why its infuriating?

Donald Trump is a racist and so are his supporters.

I'm sure the only reason why Trump would mentioned him is if one of his associates found some "dirt" on the murdered man and could proclaim how he was "no angel".

 

[Future]

Commenting on this doesn't push forward current agenda of making America great again. Trump is a busy man, and only the most important topics demand the time spent on a 140 character tweet.

 

[sirap]

Sucks that the original GAF thread barely got any traffic either.

 

[Zen Aku]

I don't get why its infuriating?

Donald Trump is a racist and so are his supporters.

I'm sure the only reason why Trump would mentioned him is if one of his associates found some "dirt" on the murdered man and could proclaim how he was "no angel".

It's infuriating because the man is a president, yet he's only looking out for the interest of a group of people. White people.

That's a dumb question. Him being a blatant racist doesn't make it any less infuriating.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

Doesn't fit his narrative. If it was a Muslim or any POC doing this to a white person he would have been on it minute one.

 

[Onemic]

Not really infuriating when it's expected at this point.

 

[Glix]

It IS infuriating, but, I mean of course he can't comment on it.

Even if he wanted to, it undermines so much of what he is trying to do to even acknowledge it.

That alone should show how disturbing and disgusting his agenda is.

 

[soldat7]

Not really infuriating when it's expected at this point.

You can't ever stop being infuriated. Becoming numb to what's going on is the absolute worst thing any of us can do.

 

[Jag]

You can't ever stop being infuriated. Becoming numb to what's going on is the absolute worst thing any of us can do.

Totally agree. Everytime Trump surprises me with how fucking low he can go. I think we've hit bottom, but he just sinks lower.

Absolutely disgusting that he hasn't condemned this attack.

How the hell did we go from Obama to this.

 

[shiba5]

He shot his mouth off immediately on the Quebec shooting when he thought it fit his agenda and never said one word when it turned out to be a white guy.
He doesn't care.

 

[Jumeira]

Awful from the President. Where's the condemnation for the Quebec terrorism at the mosque too?

 

[KimiNewt]

You can't ever stop being infuriated. Becoming numb to what's going on is the absolute worst thing any of us can do.

So why frame it as "WHY IS TRUMP NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS??", when it's obvious why he's not talking about it?

Just publish the story, and if you wish add your suggestion that it is because of the Trump administration's effect, and mention that the administration is silent about it.

 

[WrenchNinja]

He's racist scum along with all of his supporters.

 

[djplaeskool]

This is not a demographic to be spurned.
Indians make up a huge portion of H1B Visa issuance, and the outcry on social media and in India itself is getting progressively louder over this very silence.

 

[roknin]

There is so much that's fucked up about this, but especially the lack of response from Trump.

Not that it's surprising, since it doesn't fit that piece of shit's agenda.

 

[Pastry]

Lord knows if it was reversed we would be hearing about it for ages, but Trump needs white supremacists and is racist himself so no surprise there.

 

[Amalthea]

His silence says more than words.

 

[Stinkles]

Donald Trump is far too busy to tweet about every little terrorist related news story.

When he does tweet it is about matters of national significance like Arnie's ratings.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I don't get why its infuriating?

Donald Trump is a racist and so are his supporters.

I'm sure the only reason why Trump would mentioned him is if one of his associates found some "dirt" on the murdered man and could proclaim how he was "no angel".

I know several Indians who voted for Trump.

Then again the ones I know are pretty racist themselves.

 

[Sou Da]

Here's another way to look at it: Did Fox News report on it? If so how much time did they dedicate to it?

You forget where he gets his info from.

 

[dskillzhtown]

There is so much that's fucked up about this, but especially the lack of response from Trump.

Not that it's surprising, since it doesn't fit that piece of shit's agenda.

Trump doesn't care. We all know this. For me, atleast I am ready to assume the worst about the president and he hasn't disappointed yet.

 

[radios shipping overview]

He is the ultimate opportunist, and he doesn't care if he's obvious about it.

It's what happens when you elect a cutthroat businessman to be President.

 

[Valhelm]

For Trump, crime only matters if a Muslim or black person did it.

 

[jelly]

A racist. No surprise there. He should be asked about it and see how he replies while trying to pander to his audience.

 

[Exile20]

Does it matter? Even if he does say something now, none of it should matter. Trump is disgusting.

He only cares about anything that promotes his agenda. He is a racist and is playing for his base.

 

[dankir]

Because he's waiting for an Indian/brown person to kill a white person/people.. then he'll fucking pop off.

I'm from Montreal so once I heard that a white man killed muslims I knew nobody he wouldn't say shit.

Just wait until the reverse happens, then he can say "SEE, BROWN PEOPLE = BAD" otherwise
its just another shooting in the US.

 

[Version 3.0]

Careful what you wish for. If Trump were to tweet, or make a statement about this, you'd more than likely wish he'd have remained silent.

 

[Christian]

We're all killers. Right Trump/Putin?

 

[Sou Da]

A racist. No surprise there. He should be asked about it and see how he replies while trying to pander to his audience.

"a very bad dude" followed by vocal sympathy for Ian and Ian alone.

 

[LiK]

Brown people who get murdered won't get any attention from him.

 

[triplestation]

No sympathy for anything that looks like a potential Islamic Muslim Arab terrorist from the middle east

 

[RuGalz]

secretly Bannon applauses

 

[Funkyhamster]

I'm not a fan of this part:

Indian-Americans are among the most successful and educated minority groups in the US today, with a particularly strong presence in the technology sector. And a legion of middle-class Indian engineers—some of who have risen to the top of Silicon Valley—have bolstered the community's grip on the industry, while raising its profile globally.

That is why the attack in Kansas—and the lack of a response—has touched a raw nerve: What did a well-educated, law-abiding, and legally-employed immigrant do to deserve this?

The author seems to be saying that the victims were less deserving of being attacked than other immigrants because they were successful and legally present in the US.

I'm half-Indian, and I've seen similar attitudes in some Indians, as well as other highly educated immigrants: the idea that they are here legally because they worked hard, and that undocumented immigrants didn't work hard enough and are freeloaders. I actually had a conversation a few weeks ago with an Iranian daughter of an immigrant who thought Trump's travel ban was fine.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Shooter is white, they don't care.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

I don't keep much tabs on Indian media, is there really a lot of editorial furor swelling over the indifferent lack of leadership in the response to the slaying?

 

[Dynomutt]

I mean the dude has been ducking Black History Month so bad you know he is ecstatic it wasn't a leap year!

 

[ebullientprism]

This was a terror attack. But this was not the terror attack Trump was looking for.

Hence the silence.

When the right terror attack happens you can bet everything you own he will NOT shut up about it for weeks.

I don't keep much tabs on Indian media, is there really a lot of editorial furor swelling over the indifferent lack of leadership in the response to the slaying?

In the general public its not really outrage but more like puzzlement.

Some context.

India leans pretty right at the moment. And with the resurgence of Hindutva and the insane popularity of Modi, you can kinda see why there is pretty decent support for Trump over here. A lot of hard right Hinduism hardliners are pretty happy with Trump's war on Islam.

So they are kinda puzzled why Trump wont speak out against this. They think that Trump and his kind can tell apart "Good" brown folk from "Bad" brown folk.

 

[SerTapTap]

Dude cares more about made up shit in Sweden than real terrorism in the US

 

[GarthVaderUK]

I doesn't fit his narrative.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I'm not a fan of this part:



The author seems to be saying that the victims were less deserving of being attacked than other immigrants because they were successful and legally present in the US.

I'm half-Indian, and I've seen similar attitudes in some Indians, as well as other highly educated immigrants: the idea that they are here legally because they worked hard, and that undocumented immigrants didn't work hard enough and are freeloaders. I actually had a conversation a few weeks ago with an Iranian daughter of an immigrant who thought Trump's travel ban was fine.

Yep.

Many Indians feel the same way and voted for him.

 

[Owzers]

Trump team talks more about terror attacks that didn't happen than those that don't serve their purpose.

 

[BasicMath]

So far, the Trump administration has said precious little. When White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked about a possible link between Trump’s rhetoric and rising racist violence, his response was this: “Obviously, any loss of life is tragic, but I’m not going to get into, like, to suggest that there’s any correlation I think is a bit absurd. So I’m not going to go any further than that.”

I think that's probably the reason why he's basically distancing himself from it. The media will take a proper response as admitting that something is going on. Or at the very least they'll run with the story for a few weeks.

Actually, has there been any sort of studies done on this? It's probably somewhat early for that, right?

I'm not a fan of this part:

The author seems to be saying that the victims were less deserving of being attacked than other immigrants because they were successful and legally present in the US.

I don't think it's that. I think it's just a basic attempt to stir emotions in the reader. Cause outrage and such.

 

[Dai101]

He is the ultimate opportunist, and he doesn't care if he's obvious about it.

It's what happens when you elect a cutthroat businessman to be President.

Cutthroat? Wouldn't that mean that he's succesful?
This fucker is nothing more than a shysters and a fucking carny.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Doesn't fit his narrative. If it was a Muslim or any POC doing this to a white person he would have been on it minute one.

Bingo.

 

[I H8 Memes]

In person, his autocratic streak is presentationally complicated by a Ralph Kramdenesque vulnerability. He’s a man who has just dropped a can opener into his wife’s freshly baked pie. He’s not about to start grovelling about it, and yet he’s sorry—but, come on, it was an accident. He’s sorry, he’s sorry, O.K., but do you expect him to say it? He’s a good guy. Anyway, he didn’t do it.

Whats he gonna say? He's sorry?