You forgot Hindus… twice: Trump roasted over botched Diwali festival tweets
US president Donald Trump lit the traditional Diwali lamp at the White House and tweeted a greeting to the celebrants, only to have Twitter light into him instead over forgetting Hindus, the biggest group celebrating the festival!
Diwali is observed by “Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains throughout the United States & around the world,” Trump tweeted, along with photos of him lighting the Diya surrounded by aides of Indian origin and flanked by India’s ambassador to Washington. There was just one tiny problem: he left out the Hindus.
This wasn't a momentary lapse either. The original tweet was deleted, and posted again with a different link, but still no mention of the billion Hindus for whom this is their main annual celebration.
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. https://t.co/epHogpTY1Apic.twitter.com/9LUwnhngWJ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
Finally, the White House got this right, with a third tweet, that did not acknowledge the oversight, but called Diwali a "Hindu Festival of Lights."
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! https://t.co/kQk7IvpSFopic.twitter.com/tYlBABg4JF
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
The president’s critics in the online #Resistance were quick to pounce on the omission:
Diwali is a predominantly Hindu holiday that is also celebrated by the other 3 religions he lists here. Yet he omitted the Hindus from the tweet. What an incompetent moron 🤦♂️🤦♂️😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/U2POB7n478
— Mike (@MikeCohodes) November 13, 2018
How do you screw up the most basic fact about Diwali, literally the only thing most Americans know about it. https://t.co/i9P3ncz82q
— Bradford Pearson (@BradfordPearson) November 13, 2018
Trump attributing the Hindu festival of Diwali to Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains will go down with a thud in India. Roughly like saying "Today we celebrate Hannukkah, a holiday observed by Zoroastrians, Welsh people and cello players throughout the United States" https://t.co/6KiDEzQTJS
— Stanley Pignal (@spignal) November 14, 2018
Others pointed out that Trump’s ceremony was almost a week off, since actual Diwali was on November 7. The US president had gone to Paris for Armistice Day commemorations, though.
Though the tweet went out from Trump’s personal account, rather than the official @POTUS one, many speculated it was written by one of his staffers instead of the president himself.
Be fair - Trump didn't write this. As if he could spell Diwali, Buddhist or Sikhs, and there is zero chance hes heard of Jains.
— Mike Holden #FBPE (@MikeHolden42) November 13, 2018
Moreover, in his remarks at the ceremony, Trump did clearly identify Diwali as a Hindu so leaving Hindus out of the tweet was puzzling at best.
Capitalizing on the timing, at the ceremony Trump announced he would nominate Neomi Rao, who is of Parsi-Indian origin, to the appeals court seat previously held by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Rao currently heads the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
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