"I am a big fan of Hindu" or How Trump Makes Friends

Donald Trump does not have many close friends.

“Donald has some friends like me, but he’s much more of a homebody than you’d think,” said Richard LeFrak, a fellow real-estate tycoon who has known Mr. Trump for more than 40 years. ‘He’s very gregarious and has lots of acquaintances. But people that he’s close to? Not so many.”

Despite this lack of intimate relationships, Trump’s rhetoric has endeared him to millions of people. And, funnily enough, Trump is completely aware of this fact. Speaking to his supporters in New Hampshire, Trump remarked, “I have no friends, as far as I’m concerned…You know who my friends are? You’re my friends.” Indeed, while he may not be willing to let people into his personal life, Trump’s message of hate has resonated with large swaths of people. Furthermore, not only has Trump animated many Americans, he has also inspired many prominent nationalists across the globe. Despite condemning Trump’s vulgar comments about women, UKIP (England’s nationalist party that spearheaded the Brexit referendum) leader Nigel Farage has, in the past, praised Trump, calling him the “new Ronald Reagan.” A propos Trump, Dutch right-winger Geert Wilders recently stated, “I wish we had political leaders like this in the Netherlands who defend their own country…. and forget the rest.” Wilders even attended the Republican National Convention in July. The solidarity that these nationalists, and others (‘Il faut que nous expulsions les immigres!’), have shown for Trump may be counter-intuitive to some. If they are truly nationalistic, what interest do these actors have in forging bonds with foreign leaders? While some may posit that the common ground for these far right figures may be due to their skin color, that supposition is facile. What really binds these political forces together is a shared disdain for Muslim immigrants. As the Jews were for so many centuries in Europe, Muslims have become the scapegoats for the problems that plague nations around the world.

Whether it is Farage, Wilders, Le Pen or Trump, any astute observer will notice the anti-Muslim vitriol spewed by these repulsive leaders. Still, even after dismissing skin color as the cause of nationalist solidarity, it was surprising to see Hindu nationalists embrace Donald Trump, and vice e versa. Recently, the chairman of the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC), Shalabh Kumar, endorsed Trump in explicitly islamophobic terms, pointing out that Trump recognizes the “camel in the room.” And, in addition to the many pro-Trump rallies being held in India, the RHC recently organized a #HindusforTrump rally Saturday in New Jersey, an event in which Donald Trump appeared to garner support from the Hindu community. Filled with Michael Jackson impersonators and dance routines filled with sexual innuendo, the utterly bizarre event, at least on a superficial level, runs counter to Trump’s xenophobic, anti-immigrant message. As VICE Journalist Michael Tracey, who attended the event, stated on twitter, “I've been to many mind-bending campaign events this cycle but tonight's psychedelic Trump/Bollywood extravaganza might just take the cake...” However, if one conducts an even cursory examination of Hindu nationalist politics, they will understand Trump’s appeal to segments of the Hindu community. Exploiting events like terrorist acts committed by extremists, both Hindu nationalists and alt-right fear-mongers, like Donald Trump, use demagoguery to instill fear into the populace and bolster their political power. This was wholly apparent at Saturday’s event, where, in one routine, Hindu dancers were threatened by jihadists, only to be saved by Navy Seals. 

https://twitter.com/ArifCRafiq/status/787425879492296704?lang=en

Though the most notable Hindu nationalist, current Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has not expressed support for Trump, his hatred for Islam was exposed in the 2002 Gujarat riots. As chief minister of Gujarat, he inflamed tensions and encouraged Hindus to kill Muslims. It ended in, what The Guardian called, an “orgy of killing and rape.” Considering Saturday night’s ugly event, and the political positions that nationalists like Modi hold, one gains insight into what links today’s nationalists. When Trump called Modi a “Great Man,” it was not by accident. Tied together by islamaphobic sentiments, the modern nationalist agenda, ironically, is not bound by national borders. In supporting each other, nationalists are able to support each other in their quest to eradicate Islam,  promote their national identity and tighten their grip on the political system.