A video of US Senator Richard Blumenthal speaking during a media interaction is being shared on social media, shortly after the US Senate passed a bill granting the administration authority to levy 100 percent tariffs on the top five global importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, which includes India and China.
What does he say?: In the claim, Blumenthal is heard saying, ""India is a failed state. Its economy is collapsing and its military is a paper tiger that can't win a single battle. Stop begging for our oil and gas. Go find someone else to subsidize your incompetence. The world is moving on and India will be left behind exactly where it belongs."
How did we find out the truth?: We ran a reverse image search on the video, which led us to several credible sources sharing similar visuals.
One such result was a YouTube video by Business Today, which had shared a clip of the senator's speech on 17 September 2026.
It showed Blumenthal telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia's "economy is reeling" and that the US was going to "throttle" their war machine.
Speaking on China and India, he said, "You better clean up your act, buy your oil and gas somewhere else," going to talk about Americans supporting Ukraine's fight against Putin.
We found a longer version of his address on his official X account, which was shared on the same day.
This video showed the same statement as the earlier video, where Blumenthal told India and China to buy "oil somewhere else."
He went on to establish the US and Americans support for Ukraine, appreciating Ukraine's response to the Russian forces, reiterating the US' military aid and economic support for Kyiv.
There was no mention of India beyond that statement. Blumenthal did not called India a 'failed state', criticise the military, or say that India would be left behind.
Is it AI?: When we ran the audio from the claim through Hiya's Deepfake Voice Detector, the tool gave it a very low confidence score, indicating that the audio was created using AI.
Another AI detector, Sightengine, said that a screenshot from the video was "likely AI-generated," giving it an 86 percent chance of being so.
PIB clarifies: The Press Information Bureau's fact-check account took to X to address the misinformation, categorically calling it "fake" and "digitally manipulated."
Conclusion: An altered video is being shared to falsely claim that US Senator Richard Blumenthal called India a failed state.
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