On Saturday, US President Donald Trump reiterated his criticism of the $21 million fund provided by USAID for ‘voter turnout’ in India, a fund which has since been revoked by his administration.
“$21 million for voter turnout in India going to my friend, Prime Minister Modi. We’re giving $21 million for that, but what about us? I want voter turnout too, Governor… $29 million to improve the political landscape in Bangladesh went to a firm that nobody’s heard of,” Trump said to governors in a video shared by National Desk.
This is the third time Trump has addressed the controversy surrounding the $21 million fund.
Earlier on Friday, Trump referred to the fund as a “kickback scheme,” stating, “USD 21 million for voter turnout in India. Why are we focused on India’s turnout? We’ve got our own issues. We need our own turnout. In many of these cases, when you don’t know what’s going on, it’s because there’s a kickback.”
His remarks on Friday also hinted at alleged interference in India’s elections. He said, “$21 million for voter turnout – why do we need to spend that on India? I guess they were trying to get someone else elected. We need to tell the Indian government… When we hear that Russia spent $2,000 in our country, it became a huge deal. They bought some internet ads for $2,000. This is a huge breakthrough.”
In response, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, “Relevant authorities are looking into the information released by the US administration about certain US activities and funding. We find this information deeply troubling.”
