Trump’s Indian American supporters decry “weaponizing” government agencies

Rival Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy join in criticizing Trump indictment

As Former US president Donald Trump arrived in New York to be arraigned in a case involving hush money payment to an adult film actor, his Indian American supporters decried what they called ‘weaponization’ of government agencies.

Indian American Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called the indictment of his rival and frontrunner to become the Republican nominee in 2024, a “flagrant assault on the First Amendment.”

Read: Trump indictment was inevitable but still sad for America (April 3, 2023)

“The politically motivated indictment of the 45th President of the United States marks a dark moment in American history,” he stated. “It will undermine public trust in our electoral system & justice system.”

“It is un-American for the ruling party to use police power to arrest its political rivals. Principles go beyond partisanship. Let the American people decide who governs,” Ramaswamy stated.

Another Indian American presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who became the first Indian American to serve in a presidential cabinet as US ambassador to UN under Trump, accused the prosecution on Fox News to be “more about revenge than it is about justice.”

Trump was indicted last week, becoming the first sitting or former president to face criminal charges.

“It is obsession to cage the lion and tame him,” Danny Gaekwad, a first-generation American entrepreneur and community leader based in Ocala, Florida, told the American Bazaar. “Democrats will pay dearly for weaponizing government agencies. Brought USA to third world politics. Just a shame!!!”

Gaekwad, who has supported both Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, said that a former president being “treated like a common criminal” is “unacceptable.”

“He is a world leader, and they put him in the category of common criminals while rapists and murderers are roaming free – this is nothing but shame.”

“Ron DeSantis is correct and we will stand by him,” he sstated referring to a tweet from Florida governor calling the charges “un-American.”

“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American,” DeSantis wrote.

Read: Republican rivals, leaders rally around Donald Trump after indictment (March 30, 2023)

Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar, a Chicago-based Indian-American industrialist founder of Republican Hindu Coalition and chair of 2016 Indian Americans for Trump Campaign, called it “most stupid political move.”

“Lots of people, particularly media, asking if I am at the Trump tower. Silly! Big deal for nothing,” he stated. “Trump’s numbers are climbing through the roof. Democrats have committed suicide. MOST STUPID POLITICAL MOVE. If they had tried Jan 6 episode, they would have had some credibility, but now ZERO,” Kumar added.