Trump Leaves Hindus Out of Diwali Tweets Twice, Earning Fact Check From Twitter
It took President Donald Trump three tweets, one deletion, and a fact check from Twitter before he acknowledged that Diwali is a major Hindu holiday.
Trump initially tweeted, “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.”
That post was then deleted, presumably due to an issue with the link, and re-posted with a new link to a YouTube clip of Trump’s remarks on the Festival of Lights.
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/epHogpTY1A pic.twitter.com/9LUwnhngWJ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
The original tweet, subsequent deletion, and new tweet that still did not correct the mistake caused widespread outrage on Twitter, with many asking why Trump would name Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains, but not Hindus.
So after initially not including Hindus in his first Diwali tweet, Trump deletes that tweet and reposts another message. And still leaves out Hindus… https://t.co/4Rw5VLkVUe
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 13, 2018
Trump deleted the original Diwali tribute tweet because it left out Hindus only to post a corrected tweet and still leave out Hindus.
Diwali is literally the most popular festival in Hinduism. https://t.co/NOGZEgtIeD
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) November 13, 2018
Trump/White House just deleted the tweet where they forgot about a billion people on this planet. https://t.co/By9hWcfUTA
— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) November 13, 2018
About 15 minutes later, however, the president’s account issued a new tweet acknowledging that the holiday is associated with Hinduism.
“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!”
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/kQk7IvpSFo pic.twitter.com/tYlBABg4JF
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
[image via screengrab]
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