Trump courts "Hindus", err, "India" for votes

EDISON: Neck deep in muck, Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has had a stormy election season. Brewing up controversies for himself, the billionaire businessman successfully managed to stay in the headlines, at the cost of a rather pervasive reputation.

During the ongoing last weeks of the fierce contest, Trump decided to make an unusual stop, meeting with the Hindu Republican Coalition in New Jersey. Talking to the media during the event, he said, "I have great respect for Hindus. I have so many friends that are Hindu. They are great people, amazing entrepreneurs." The candidate quickly corrected his faux pas when asked why just Hindus. "I'll be honest, I have great respect for India. I actually have (real estate) jobs going up in India. (It's) tremendously successful. It is an amazing country."

Speaking at the 'Humanity United Against Terror' rally, Trump said, "I'm a big fan of Hindu and a big fan of India – big, big fan. Let me start by stating right up front that if I'm elected president, the Indian and Hindu community will have a true friend in the White House. That, I can guarantee you. India is the world's largest democracy. And is a natural ally of the US." He added, "I look forward to working with Prime Minister Modi, a pro-growth leader. India's economy is growing seven per cent a year and we're not growing at all. We'll grow again, very fast, adding 25 million new jobs over the next decade."

Talking on the theme of terrorism, the leader was vague yet open about his views. "We have to have extreme vetting before we let people in." When asked about his plan to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, he said, "Something is going on that's not a positive force. We are going to be looking very much at certain areas of the world. We have to be very careful with radical Islamic terror. We can be politically correct and say it doesn't matter but it does matter." Addressing India-Pakistan relations, Trump said, "There's a tremendous conflict between India and Pakistan. Just recently you had a lot of people killed. Hopefully everything is going to work out."