'I feel extremely sorry that a man of such doubtful character...': Mani Shankar Aiyar on Trump's win

New Delhi: Former diplomat and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar expressed his dismay over Donald Trump’s re-election as U.S. president, describing him as “a man of doubtful character.” Speaking to ANI, Aiyar remarked, “I feel extremely sorry that a man of such doubtful character as Donald Trump shouldn’t have been elected the president of the world’s most powerful democracy.”

Aiyar’s criticism also touched on Trump’s ongoing legal troubles, including accusations of falsifying business records in a hush-money case involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The case involves payments made to Daniels just days before the 2016 election. “The moral dimension was missing. It’s very saddening that such a powerful country will be led by such a man who has been convicted as a felon on 34 different counts and who has made an infamous name for himself by consorting with prostitutes and making payments to them to cover up for his sins,” Aiyar said. “I don’t think a man of such a character is good for either his country or the world.”

In the election, Trump, the Republican candidate, defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, securing his second non-consecutive term as the 47th president. This election outcome is only the second instance in U.S. history of a president serving two non-consecutive terms, with Grover Cleveland being the first in 1884 and 1892. Trump had previously served as president from 2016 to 2020 but was defeated by Joe Biden in his bid for a second consecutive term. Biden later withdrew from seeking re-election, paving the way for Harris to become the Democratic candidate.

Aiyar expressed regret over Harris’s loss, noting that she would have been the first female president and the first U.S. president of Indian heritage. He said, “As for Kamala Harris, she was given a very short time. She came up from behind. She was performing extremely well. But it seems that very deep faultlines in American society ultimately coalesced against her, and she lost in this race.”

In addition to criticizing Trump, Aiyar raised concerns over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s close relationship with the former U.S. president, suggesting it reflects poorly on Modi. “I also recognize that there is a special rapport at a personal level between PM Modi and Trump, which I think reflects very badly on PM Modi and his personal preferences,” Aiyar commented.

The Modi-Trump relationship has long been a topic of interest. During Trump’s first term, Modi invited him to the 2019 “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston, which attracted a crowd of 50,000. This was followed by Trump’s 2020 visit to India, where Modi hosted the “Namaste Trump” rally in Ahmedabad with over 100,000 attendees. However, in a strategic move during the 2024 U.S. election season, Modi refrained from publicly engaging with either Trump or Harris during his U.S. visit in September, likely to maintain a neutral stance and avoid any appearance of favoritism. ANI