Despite recently announcing to the Indian American community that “they will be best friends,” a new survey found that only 7 percent of Indian American voters will support Donald Trump during this November’s upcoming presidential election.
The results of the National Asian American Survey – which came out Oct. 5 – also found that in contrast, 67 percent of Indian Americans said they would vote for Hillary Clinton. The survey was conducted between Aug. 10 and Sep 29., when Trump’s ratings were still ahead of Clinton’s, according to the Huffington Post.
On Sunday night, Trump attended a charity event organized by the Republican Hindu Coalition in New Jersey, which was advertised as a Bollywood fundraiser for victims of terror in the United States and around the world.
Shalabh Kumar, a Chicago-based businessman and the coalition’s founder, told New Delhi Television that the group donated approximately $1.5 million to Trump’s campaign.
Despite this, the overwhelming majority of Indian American voters – the second largest group of Asians in America – appear to have turned away from Trump, as they display the lowest support for him out of all AAPI communities.
According to the survey, some of their key concerns include Trump’s hardline stance on Muslim immigration and his accusations that Clinton has ties with Indian infotech companies that “steal” American jobs.
Only 13 percent of Indian Americans identify as Republican, and 11 percent support Trump’s proposition on banning Muslim immigrants and refugees.
Trump’s favorability with AAPI segments continues to dip as we inch closer to November’s election. Only 25 percent of Filipino Americans, 20 percent of Japanese Americans, 16 percent of Cambodian and Vietnamese Americans and 11 percent of Chinese Americans said they’d vote for him, according to the survey.
