Donald Trump thanks Indian Americans for election victory, says Hindus did great

“They were amazing and voted and they were fantastic,” says Trump.

For the first time after coming victorious in the presidential election, the President-elect Donald Trump thanked efforts of the Indian American community in helping him sail through what was thought as a neck to neck race to the White House.

Speaking at the Thanks You rally at Orlando, Trump said “We did great with Hindus”, once again singling out the community that had stayed close to the Republican throughout the election.

Florida has a large number of Indian Americans and many of them had gathered in the rally. During his speech, Trump called for them “Where are they? We have a big group. There they are. I want to thank you. You folks were amazing. They were amazing and voted and they were fantastic.”

This is the first time after his election triumph that Trump has publicly acknowledged the work of the Indian American in securing his victory.

A fortnight before the election day, Trump had attended a fundraising event organized by the Republican Hindu Coalition. It was during this event that Trump made the famous statement “I love Hindus”

The event was hosted to raise funds for the family of the Hindus who were affected by terror in Indian and Bangladesh. The event was also the first of its kind as no other Presidential candidate had attended an Indian American event before.

In his speech at the event, Trump said he will work for the betterment of the US-India relationship and also said that India will have a friend in the White House if he came out victorious in the election.

He also praised prime Minister Narendra Modi for his economic reforms and steps that he has taken to remove the bureaucratic red tape.

The Republican Hindu Coalition had also launched a special advertisement campaign for Trump where he appeared saying “Aap Ki Baar Trump Sarkar.”

Trump’s son-in-law and other family members had visited temples in Florida and Virginia – first time any presidential campaign has done something like this.

Shalabh Salli Kumar the founder and chairman of the Republican Hindu Coalition said that all the efforts made by his organization had an impact in the election. The Hindu community that has till now shown lenience towards the democratic camp came out in large numbers and voted Trump to power said Shalabh who was earlier appointed to the Transition Finance and Inauguration Committee, of the Trump administration.

Trump during his Thank you rally said “Dream big and bold and daring. I am asking you to believe in yourself and asking you to believe in America. Together we will make America great again.”

Not moving an inch from his earlier commitment to resort to the extreme vetting of refugees, asylum and visa applicants coming from regions where there is a high terrorist stronghold, Trump said his priority will be to keep America safe.

Trump added that he has proposed to suspend immigration from some regions where applicants “cannot be safely processed or vetted” due to a lack of government records.