Trump trips on Indian accent

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s promise to elevate his White House campaign from the infantile to the presidential tripped on an Indian accent on Friday. The Republican front-runner resorted to the familiar caricature of an accented Indian call center worker to accentuate his lament about the flight of jobs from the United States and the decline of American greatness.

Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Delaware, America’s own Panama when it comes to low-tax dodges, when he suddenly teed off against a raft of countries he complained were taking away jobs from the U.S ''like candy from a baby.''

He then cited an instance when he personally called up his credit card company to determine where the customer support is based.

''Guess what, you're talking to a person from India. How the hell does that work?" he asked his supporters in state that is also a hub for America's banking and credit-card industry, and is only too happy to outsource customer service to India.

''Where are you from?'' Trump said, recalling the phone conversation, before imitating a mild Indian accent. ''We are from India.''

''Oh great, that's wonderful,'' he said, as he pretended to hang up the phone.

''India is great place. I am not upset with other leaders. I am upset with our leaders for being so stupid,'' he added.

The histrionics belied the promise from Trump's campaign that he would get more serious in his public utterances and would deliver presidential foreign policy speech at the National Press Club in Washington DC next week. Aides have suggested that Trump is just ''playing a part'' in the primaries.

Nothing in his Delaware speech, a mish-mash of ill-formed and ill-informed rhetoric, suggested that was going to happen anytime soon.

As it turns out, Delaware itself has a large Indian-origin population that dominate its fast-food franchises, convenience stores, gas stations, and liquor outlets, generating business and revenues for the state.

Trump's slight of the Indian accent was neither grave nor acute. It is common theme in many TV shows and movies, from Apu in the Simpsons going back to Peter Sellers' Hrundi Bakshi in The Party.

In fact, vice-president Joe Biden, who was a senator from Delaware for many years, himself tripped over the issue of Indian accent in 2006 when he highlighted (in a positive reference) that the largest growth of population in his home state is that of Indian Americans, but then inexplicably added, ''you cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking.''

Even sections of the US media were offended by Trump’s act. ''Donald Trump’s despicable shtick took another offensive turn Friday as the deplorable Republican presidential front-runner used a fake Indian accent to make a point about outsourcing,'' wrote the New York Daily News, a fierce critic of the local billionaire, pointing out that Trump is known for his offensive commentaries on Muslims, Mexicans, women and other groups, and has put his foot firmly in his mouth several times on the campaign trail.

Friday wasn’t the first time the billionaire made fun of foreign accents, it said. At a rally in Iowa last August, the Queens-born tycoon critiqued Chinese and Japanese business partners with a mocking impression in broken English.

''Negotiating with Japan, negotiating with China, when these people walk into the room, they don’t say, ‘Oh hello, how’s the weather? So beautiful outside, isn’t it lovely? How are the Yankees doing? Oh, they are doing wonderful, great,’'' Trump related, before essaying a cringe-worthy impression of them: ''They say, ‘We want deal!’'' Trump quipped, to laughter from his fan club.

No one should be happier over Trump’s flub -- and free publicity -- than India’s business couple Anu and Anand Mahindra, who some months back opened a restaurant in the Donald’s stomping ground in Manhattan. It’s name: Indian Accent.