Rahul Gandhi Claims Trump's Rise Powered by Unemployed Manufacturing Workers Amid US-India Tariff Tensions

New Delhi:

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has criticized US President Donald Trump, stating that his "polarizing campaign is supported by the unemployed." Gandhi made these remarks while speaking at Colombia's EIA University, coinciding with Trump's recent imposition of a 50 percent tariff on Indian goods.

This isn't Gandhi's first time connecting Trump's electoral success to unemployment issues. In 2017, during an address to Princeton University students, Gandhi argued that leaders like Narendra Modi and Donald Trump have risen to power worldwide because people are suffering from lack of employment opportunities.

"The central reason why Mr. Modi arose and to an extent why Mr. Trump came is the question of jobs in India and in the United States. A large portion of our populations simply do not have jobs and cannot envision a future. They are feeling pain, which has led them to support these types of leaders," Gandhi had explained to the Princeton audience.

In his recent Colombia appearance, Gandhi elaborated that "most of the people polarizing with Trump are those who have lost their manufacturing sector jobs" in the United States.

He noted that China has demonstrated production capabilities in a non-democratic environment, but democratic nations need to replicate this success within their "democratic structures." The challenge, according to Gandhi, "is to develop a production model in a democratic environment that can compete with China."

Regarding India, Gandhi observed that despite current economic growth, "We are unable to provide jobs because we operate primarily as a service-based economy and are not producing enough," highlighting a fundamental economic challenge facing the nation.