Trump’s latest display of ignorance is beyond belief
In the era of Donald Trump, it’s increasingly hard to be genuinely shocked. But his latest gaffe involving the religious celebration of Diwali tests that theory to the limit. In fact, it’s likely to challenge even Sarah Palin’s infamous ‘Africa is a country’ gaffe.
A Hindu celebration without Hindus?
Trump is, of course, the perfect host for Diwali, a Hindu celebration of “the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance”.
But during a celebration of Diwali at the White House, Trump tweeted:
But there’s one thing missing from this – the thing that most would argue is the most critical element of Diwali: Hindus.
Less than impressed
Perhaps it was an honest mistake by Trump. Maybe he was simply acknowledging that other faiths also celebrate festivals alongside Diwali. But some others weren’t accepting this generous interpretation.
For many, it was yet another demonstration of the president’s ignorance. After all, as the Hindu faith is estimated to have over a billion adherents worldwide out of a total population of 7 billion, it’s kind of hard to miss.
Read on...
The former India bureau chief at the Washington Post, Annie Gowen, tweeted:
Other people were more direct:
Diwali fell on 7 November and Trump’s event was on 13 November. And with this in mind, one person tweeted:
Diwali was last week. But you can celebrate Christmas in January if you just want a photo op.
“Very, very special people!”
After apparently recognising the critical omission in his first tweet, Trump deployed all his legendary subtlety to cover up his earlier mistake:
Sleep soundly
We live in truly strange times. But at least we can all sleep safely in the knowledge that this man does not have access to a nuclear arsenal capable of destroying the planet ten times over. Oh, wait, what?
Get Involved!
– Support The Canary so we can keep holding the powerful to account.
– Support Occupy Democrats, a counterweight to the extremism of the current Republican party and neoliberalism of the Democratic Party.
Featured images from S. Pakhrin/Flickr and Gage Skidmore/Flickr
We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support
The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.
The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.
So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.
