False God : Texas Republican Leader Draws Backlash Over Comments On Hanuman Statue

23rd September 2025 at 12:21 PM

1 minute read

A leader of US President Donald Trump's Republican Party kicked off a massive row after he objected to the construction of the 'Statue of Union', a 90-foot statue of Lord Hanuman, in Texas.

New Delhi : A leader of US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party kicked off a massive row after he objected to the construction of the ‘Statue of Union’, a 90-foot statue of Lord Hanuman, in Texas. The remarks come at a time when harsh rhetoric from US officials against India over tariffs and trade has dovetailed with anti-India and anti-Hindu hate speech online.

Posting a video of the Hanuman statue, which was inaugurated in August 2024, Republican leader Alexander Duncan tweeted, “Why are we allowing a false statue of a false Hindu God to be here in Texas? We are a Christian nation!” Duncan, who is running for election to the Senate to represent Texas, followed it up with another post in which he quoted the Bible. Duncan’s post invited a fierce backlash from the Hindu American Foundation and Indian-Americans, who called the remarks “anti-Hindu and inflammatory”.

Why are we allowing a false statue of a false Hindu God to be here in Texas? We are a CHRISTIAN nation!pic.twitter.com/uAPJegLie0
— Alexander Duncan (@AlexDuncanTX) September 20, 2025

The Establishment clause prohibits the government from “establishing” an official religion. The fresh development could further alienate Indian-Americans, a section of whom has already been incensed over racist and casteist remarks by Trump’s aide Peter Navarro. Navarro triggered a row after claiming that “Brahmins” were profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. It came amid the US’s tough talk on India over its purchase of Russian oil.

This is not the first time that the statue, the tallest in North America, has been receiving backlash. Ever since it was inaugurated in 2024 at the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple, the Hanuman statue has faced hate on social media from Trump’s MAGA supporters, who had a meltdown over a monument being built to honour a foreign deity. In fact, such was the level of hate among the Conservatives that some claimed that the figure was demonic. Some Conservatives had suggested on X that the statue resembled George Floyd, a Black who died in 2021 after a police official pressed his knee on his neck.