US President Donald Trump has reposted a podcast by American radio host Michael Savage in which India, China and other nations were described as “hell holes".
In the episode, Savage had railed against the United States’ birthright citizenship law, alleging that immigrants from Asia exploit the system through “birth tourism” and welfare abuse. Savage alleged that people from the two Asian nations come to the US to "drop a baby in the ninth month", and the law turns them into "instant" US citizens.
The radio host called for a national referendum instead of leaving this matter to the courts.
Trump shares transcript
Trump shared the transcript and video of Savage Nation on his Truth Social platform, which said, "A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring in their entire family from China, or India, or some other hell-hole on the planet".
Trump shared this transcript a day after falsely claiming in a CNBC interview that no other country offers birthright citizenship. In reality, about three dozen nations — including Canada, Mexico and most of South America — grant automatic citizenship to children born on their soil.
'Gangsters with laptops'
Savage’s remarks included calling Indian and Chinese immigrants “gangsters with laptops” and accusing them of undermining American workers. "They've done more damage to this nation than all the mafia families put together. In my unhumble opinion. Gangsters with laptops. They've robbed us blind, treated us like second-class citizens, let the trud world triumph, stepped on our flag, et cetera," he wrote.
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Savage claimed he "used to be a great supporter of Indians in India" until, according to him, he realised the prospect of "white men" getting jobs at a high-tech company in California is 'nil'.
"You have to be from India or China because almost all the internal mechanisms are set up to run by Indians and Chinese," he pointed out.
'Constitution outdated'
He argued that the Constitution is outdated in the context of modern migration and demanded a national referendum on citizenship rights.
"The Constitution was written before air travel, needless to say before television, before the internet, before radio, and you could say, how relevant are some of these arguments when people are coming here by airplane in the ninth month of their pregnancy," said Savage.
SC ruling
Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court heard arguments in Trump vs Barbara, a case challenging the president’s executive order denying citizenship to children born in the US to parents on temporary visas or without legal status.
Anticipating a ruling, Trump warned that a decision against him would “cost America massive amounts of money” and “its dignity".
