Trump Campaign Ads Target a New Audience: Indian Americans
By Anita Kumar
Donald Trump’s campaign has launched a five-figure digital ad buy targeting an unlikely voting demographic for Republicans: Indian Americans.
It’s likely the first time a Republican presidential candidate has spent a large amount of money on ads tailored for Indian American voters, according to five people involved in recent Republican presidential campaigns.
The move comes just days after the president flew to India for a political-style rally with over 100,000 cheering fans, earning him wall-to-wall Indian media coverage. But back home, Trump hasn’t polled well with Indian Americans. Still, the group represents a growing voting bloc that registers and votes at high rates, making it a desirable target. And Trump’s team thinks its message on tax cuts and illegal immigration, as well as Trump’s friendship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will play well with some Indian Americans.
The ad campaign began Wednesday on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, streaming services and online publishers, according to a senior campaign official. It will run for two weeks.
One Facebook ad features Trump and first lady Melania Trump standing in front of the famed Taj Mahal.
“Indian Americans are titans of business, masters of the arts and innovate technology like few others,” the ad reads. “Your contributions have strengthened our culture and economy. I will always fight for YOU!”
Another says, “America LOVES India,” and features a photo of Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi together. “Our economies have never been better, and the United States is eager to build a strong partnership with India.”
A third features Modi alone and lists education policies the Trump administration backs, including tax breaks to support private- and religious-school scholarships.
Republicans have been trying for years — with limited success — to make inroads with Indian Americans, one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States. Previous campaigns reached out to the Indian American community, largely through in-person events or literature, but likely didn’t purchase ads specific to the community. Even with some of the president's divisive language and plans on immigration, Trump’s team thinks it has a better chance this year because of Trump’s policies, his outreach efforts and his praise for Modi, who is popular in India.
“People have changed their minds about voting for Democrats,” said SampatShivangi, an Indian American physician from Mississippi who will serve as delegate for Trump at the Republican National Convention this summer. He predicted Trump could reach at least 60 percent support from Indian Americans.
Still, Trump’s job approval among Indian Americans was only 28 percent in 2018, according to the Asian American Voter Survey, a poll of registered Asian American voters. About 66 percent of respondents disapproved of how the president was handling his job.
Shivangi, whom the Trump administration tapped to serve as a member of an advisory board on mental health, said he and seven Indian American physicians will host a breakfast fundraiser with Trump on March 8 at his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida. A table will cost $20,000.
Trump’s campaign said the new ads focus on the economy, education policy and the relationship between Trump and Modi, who both rode to office on a wave of populist rhetoric. They feature photos from Trump’s trip to India last week and “Howdy Modi,” a Houston rally with Trump and Modi last year that was hailed as the largest event in the US for a leader of a foreign nation.
Trump’s first trip to India as president last week was an official visit to work on a long-standing trade dispute and push for closer US-Indian relations, but it also included the “Namaste Trump” rally with 110,000 enthusiastic Indians at the world’s largest cricket stadium.
Shivangi was invited to attend Trump’s trip as part of a six-person Indian American delegation, but at the last minute four members of the delegation did not go. Others were added to the roster, including the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, both senior White House aides. Shivangideclined to say why the plans changed. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Some Indian Americans, whose families came to the United States legally to study or work, support Trump because of his economic agenda — especially the 2017 tax cuts — and his policies to crack down on illegal immigration. But he has angered some in the community by kicking India out of a trade preference program for developing countries and trying to intervene in the long-standing dispute between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region.
In 2016, more than 80 percent of Indian Americans voted for Trump’s 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, according to polling by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
That year, about 1.2 million Indian American were registered to vote, according to Asian American and Pacific Islanders Data. That number is expected to rise to 1.4 million in 2020.
Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist who was digital director for Senator Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential bid, said just because Indian Americans have generally voted for Democrats doesn’t mean some of them can’t be persuaded to vote for Trump this time.
“Every vote counts and helps,” he said. “Even if you can reduce Democratic support from 80 percent down to 75 percent, you have taken a vote from the other guy.”
During the 2016 campaign, Trump made sweeping vows to work with Indian Americans. He spoke to 10,000 Hindus waving “Trump for Hindu Americans” signs at a Bollywood-themed event in Edison, NJ, home to a robust Indian community. While in office, Trump has celebrated Diwali, the most important holiday for Indian Hindus, and appointed Indian Americans to numerous high-ranking positions.
“The Indian American community has already been receptive to many of President Trump’s policies,” said AdiSathi, who served as director of Asian Pacific American engagement at the Republican National Committee earlier in Trump's presidency. “Between Howdy Modi and Namaste Trump, they have never received as much attention and recognition from any other US political leader in past history.” - Politico
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