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New Delhi: Former diplomat Mani Shankar Aiyar on Saturday expressed his disappointment and concern over Donald Trump winning the US presidential election, calling him a “man of doubtful character”.
President Donald Trump has been identified as an accused in a hush-money case involving Stormy Daniels, related to accusations of falsifying business records. That case involved payment to Daniels, an adult film actress, mere days before the 2016 presidential election.
“The moral dimension was missing. It’s very saddening that such a powerful country will be led by such a man who has been convicted as a felon on 34 different counts and who has made an infamous name for himself by consorting with prostitutes and making payments to them to cover up for his sins. I don’t think a man of such a character is good for either his country or the world.,” added Aiyar.
The US presidential election has ended with the victory of the former President Donald Trump, who is also the Republican candidate, by an overwhelming majority. The Democratic Party candidate was Kamala Harris. He is to be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. It will be his second term in this post.
Earlier, Donald Trump was the President of the United States from 2016 to 2020. He had to face defeat in the election field for his second consecutive term from Democratic candidate Joe Biden. A few months before the US presidential election, Joe Biden withdrew from contesting for a second term after which the Democratic Party declared Kamala Harris as its candidate.
It would be the second incident of a president who has served two non-consecutive terms in the White House, the first in over 100 years. Grover Cleveland was a non-consecutive president in 1884 and 1892. Earlier, Trump had served as US President from 2016 to 2020.
He also questioned the rapport between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump. “I also recognize that there is a special rapport at a personal level between PM Modi and Trump, which I think reflects very badly on PM Modi and his personal preferences,” said Aiyar.
Aiyar always was famous for his candid and provocative opinion to keep up debates and discussions in Indian politics.
Indeed, one cannot help but be inquisitive about the connection between PM Modi and Donald Trump. So far, PM Modi always believed in a sternly diplomatic profile. However, with the association of Trump, it created a ruckus.
While Trump was in office, he received an invitation from Indian Prime Minister Modi to attend the “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston in 2019, where 50,000 attendees wowed Trump. The visit was reciprocated by Trump going to India in 2020, where he was greeted by the “Namaste Trump” rally, conceived by PM Modi in Ahmedabad, attended by 100,000 people.
However, PM Modi has also been cautious in his engagements with Trump, especially during the 2024 US presidential elections. In spite of claims by Trump that he will meet PM Modi, PM Modi did not interact with either Trump or Kamala Harris during his US visit in September 2024. It must have probably been to remain neutral and not go out to support any of them.
Apart from this loss, the defea of Kamala Harris is also mentioned by Aiyar. He said that had she emerged victorious, Kamala Harris would have been the very first woman and the very first politician of Indian origin to enter the White House, which would have been a historical and positive step.
“About Kamala Harris, she was given a very short time. She came up from behind. She was performing extremely well. But it seems that very deep fault lines in American society ultimately coalesced against her, and she lost in this race,” said Aiyar.
