Niraj Antani: 'Indian Americans Would Thrive Under Trump'

'Democrats don't care about those on H-1B visas. They don't care about the Green Card backlog.'

'President Trump wants to stop the massive flow of illegal immigrants and focus on a robust and legal immigration system.'

'Indian Americans would thrive in such an immigration system.'

IMAGE: Republican presidential nominee and former US president Donald J Trump at the first campaign rally with his running mate J D Vance in Grand Rapids, Michigan, July 20, 2024. Photograph: Tom Brenner/Reuters

Ohio state Senator Niraj Antani is serving his first term in the Ohio Senate.

Elected to the Ohio House at 23 and to the Senate at 29, he is currently the youngest member of the Senate.

Notably, he is the first Indian American state senator in Ohio's history.

In a candid chat with Rediff.com's US Contributor Abhijit J Masih, Senator Antani passionately expresses his support for Donald J Trump and his pride in being both an Indian American and a Hindu American.

What are your thoughts on the assassination attempt on Donald Trump?

I found out like millions of Americans with a notification on my phone. Obviously, a horrific and horrible incident. We're all very happy that President Trump survived this attack.

President Trump is trying to unify this country. Clearly there are divisions that were stoked.

But now I would like to unify the country. And that's our hope we had a unified Republican National Convention that was very exciting and hopeful.

And our hope is to unify the country.

I believe Republican VP nominee J D Vance is a friend of yours. Have you known him for a long time?

Maybe since 2017-2018. He was introduced to me after he wrote his book, and we're very excited and very happy for him.

It's quite a tremendous achievement, to be named as the running mate. He's been a good senator and we think he'll be a great vice president.

IMAGE: Republican vice presidential nominee US Senator J D Vance at a rally at the Middletown High School in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, July 22, 2024. Photograph: Megan Jelinger/Reuters

Would you like to comment about his connection to the Indian American community?

We all like Usha and are very happy about the potentiality that she could be the Second Lady of the United States.

And, look, having a vice president with this sort of intimate connection with our community, I think would be a huge boon.

You know, his kids are Indian Americans with Indian American names. I think they had a Hindu wedding as well. I think this is a great thing for our community.

Did you expect President Biden quitting the presidential race and Kamala Harris being nominated as the Democratic nominee for President?

I think everyone kind of expected after his disastrous debate performance to step down.

We were not shocked. I don't know how he can step down from the campaign and not as President. So we're all very confused by that.

And also the massive cover up that has been propagated by the White House, covering up his diminishing health over the last couple of years.

I am very bewildered to this massive cover up that has taken place.

How was your experience at the RNC? Did you get to meet and speak to President Trump?

I was a delegate for President Trump. The entire party is unified and supporting President Trump and in trying to unify the country and elect him as president once again.

I've met President Trump a couple of times. Obviously there were 30,000 people there last week. I saw JD a couple of times. Yeah, it was great.

It was a great celebration of our party and we're now very excited for November.

How would you assess Kamala Harris' performance as vice president? Is she a worthy Presidential nominee?

I support President Trump as a conservative Republican. Kamala Harris is a very liberal Democrat. I'll be supporting President Trump.

IMAGE: Niraj Antani with J D Vance. Photograph: Kind courtesy Niraj Antani/Instagram

There are always questions about the lack of connection with her Indian American heritage as compared to her African American connection. How does that reflect amongst the Indian American community?

I'm proud to be an Indian American. I'm proud to be a Hindu American. You'd have to ask her about that. I have not seen her talk about that.

I know she talks about her mother being Indian. That's the extent of what I have seen, but I don't know her personally.

So I don't know that I can respond to that. But I know I'm proud to be an Indian American.

Do you think Kamala Harris will be a stronger opponent than President Biden?

I cannot speak for the campaigns, just my personal opinion. Tulsi Gabbard, a proud Hindu American, completely demolished her in the 2020 presidential Democratic primary debates.

I think President Trump will demolish her in the debates.

What would you say to people who think that the second Trump administration will make it difficult for immigrants?

Look, President Trump and the Republican Party is vociferously for legal immigration.

We opposed illegal immigration. Kamala Harris is the border czar in the Biden administration, and has done a disastrous job.

Democrats only care about illegal immigrants, they don't care about those on H-1B visas.

They do not care about the Green Card backlog. They only care about illegal immigrants.

President Trump and we as Republicans want to stop the border crisis, massive flow of illegal immigrants and instead focus on a robust and yes, legal immigration system.

I think Indian Americans would thrive in such an immigration system.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com