Donald Trump Jr, who is in India to promote his family's real estate business, suffered an episode of foot-in-mouth disease.
Speaking to CNBC TV 18, Trump Jr on 20 February, praised India's poor for their spirit, this while promoting his family's luxury apartments, the Trump Towers.
I don’t mean to be glib about it, but you can see the poorest of the poor and there is still a smile on their face. It’s a different spirit that you don’t see in other parts of the world ... and I think there’s something unique about that.
According to Scroll, Trump Jr then went on to say that compared to other parts of the world, the spirit of India's poor was something 'unique to emerging countries'.
And in an effort to show that the rich can in turn possibly 'learn' from the poor, Trump Jr further said:
I know some of the most successful people in the world, and some of them are the most miserable people in the world.
Trump Jr, who took over his father's business empire after the former's presidency, arrived in India on his family's private jet on 19 February to wine and dine with some of the country's top developers and most influential businesspeople as he promotes the upcoming Trump Towers in Indian cities.
Political commentators and watchdogs in the US have raised concerns about a possible 'conflict of interest' in Trump Jr's venture.
Speaking to Washington Post, Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said:
Trump’s company is literally selling access to the president’s son overseas.
However, Trump Jr said any talk of his family profiting from his father's presidency is "nonsense". Speaking to CNBC TV18, he said that when critics talk about them "profiteering from the presidency and all this nonsense" they forget about "the opportunity cost of the deals that we were not able to do."
Trump Jr is also scheduled to speak about Indo-Pacific relations at a business summit along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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