GoKawiilThis story mentions slurs used against South Asians.
Vivek Ramaswamy was almost done taking questions.
Speaking to students at Montana State University on October 7, at an event for the right-wing youth organization Turning Point USA, the former Republican presidential candidate and Ohio gubernatorial hopeful reiterated his conservative bonafides. The visit should have been a layup for Ramaswamy—and maybe it would have been, had he been white and Christian.
Instead, as the hour-and-a-half-long event was drawing to a close, Ramaswamy got grilled by two white students who felt his Hindu faith and culture put him at odds with the office he hopes to lead.
“Christian voices should be the main voice of America. And I want to know basically why you seem to be, and I don't mean to be horribly offensive, but why you seem to be masquerading as a Christian?” one woman in the crowd asked. The young man who followed her was even more direct. “If you are an Indian, a Hindu, coming from a different culture, different religion, than those who founded this country—those who grew this country, built this country, made this country the beautiful thing that it is today—what are you conserving? You are bringing change,” he said. The man went on to ask Ramaswamy how he could represent Ohioans, when 64 percent of them are Christian.
It’s hardly the first time Ramaswamy has dealt with this type of rhetoric from his own party’s base. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter once told him that she would not have voted for him as president, “because you’re an Indian”; he later said he respected her for speaking her mind.
“After the victory of Trump, a lot of people started looking for their next enemy.” Anang Mittal, creative strategist
But even as South Asians in the US hold a disproportionate slice of jobs in tech and health care, as well as highly visible roles in the White House, they’re facing a noxious swell of racism online—with much of it seemingly coming from MAGA adherents. Some tell WIRED the vitriol is making them feel duped by the president and fearful that the hateful rhetoric will become a mainstay for the party.
“After the victory of Trump, a lot of people started looking for the next enemy,” says Anang Mittal, a creative strategist who’s worked for several Republicans and served under House speaker Mike Johnson. Mittal, who was born in India and voted for Trump twice, resigned in 2024. By his estimation, the newest enemy is Indian American people, including conservatives. “We're the more visible members of the Republican Party,” he says.
South Asians with top roles in and around the Trump administration include White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai, FBI director Kash Patel, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the DOJ Harmeet Dhillon, White House AI adviser Sriram Krishnan, National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya, and second lady Usha Vance.