‘Every Country Has Stupid People’: Marco Rubio’s Blunt Response to Question on Racist Remarks Against Indians
[ By Mumbai Samachar Desk]
New Delhi: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday (May 25) held a joint press conference with India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi, fielding questions on a wide range of subjects from the depths of the India-US strategic relationship to racist remarks targeting Indians in the United States.
ON US-INDIA TIES
Rubio underscored the significance of the bilateral relationship, describing India as one of Washington’s most important strategic partners in the world. He pointed to the breadth of cooperation between the two democracies spanning technology, innovation, global commerce, and shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific as evidence of the partnership’s depth.
“The list of issues that we work together with India on, the breadth of scope of them, is what highlights the fact that India is an important strategic partner in the United States, one of our most important strategic partners in the world,” Rubio said.
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On counterterrorism, Rubio noted that both nations had suffered directly and indirectly at the hands of global terrorist networks, and said this had created a strong security alignment between Washington and New Delhi. “Both of our countries have suffered, both directly and indirectly, because of global terrorist networks. There was a strong counterterrorism alignment as a result of that,” he said.
ON RACIST REMARKS AGAINST INDIANS
Asked about a spate of racist comments targeting Indians in the United States, Rubio was blunt: the remarks came from “stupid people” and were not reflective of American society at large. He stressed that the United States remained a nation built by immigrants, with its growth and success shaped by people from across the world.
"Who said that…", US Secretary of State Rubio in response to my question on racism agaisnt Indians in US.
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) May 24, 2026
US President Donald Trump had endorsed a post terming India "Hellhole" pic.twitter.com/UC37RYIcHK
“I’m sure that there are people that have made comments online and other places, because every country in the world has stupid people,” Rubio said. “I’m sure there’s stupid people here. There are stupid people in the United States that make dumb comments all the time,” he added.
ON VISA POLICY CHANGES
Addressing concerns over recent changes to J-1, F-1, and H-1B visa categories, Rubio said the reforms were part of a broader overhaul of the US immigration system and were not directed specifically at India. He acknowledged that Indian companies had invested over $20 billion in the United States and expressed hope that the figure would continue to rise.
The US Secretary of State attributed the immigration changes to a migration crisis stemming from millions of illegal border crossings in recent years, and maintained that every country had the sovereign right to shape its immigration policies in accordance with its national interests.