Indian-American Congressman calls Trump ‘devil’

Washington, March 28 (IANS) Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, a Democrat who represents the 17th Congressional District of California, known as the Silicon Valley, called US President Donald Trump a "devil" and his budget proposal "dumb".

"You talk to members of Congress and they don't agree with everything he says. Even Republicans. They are as embarrassed," Khanna -- a teacher, lawyer and a politician -- said in a video interview to news channel TYT Politics, published on Monday.

"Why aren't they speaking out? It's because he is helping achieve their vision which is the dismantling of the administrative state. The dismantling of the new deal, in a way that Ronald Reagan even didn't," he said.

"... So they are saying, OK, we are gonna make the bargain with the devil. He is giving us what we want. Let's ignore everything else."

Responding to a question on what bothers him the most about the Trump administration's budget proposal, which might get passed, too, Khanna said "foreign aid".

"I mean, I can't think of a more dumb proposal than, frankly, than cutting that [foreign aid]."

Khanna said that he is worried that the Republicans would not push back on cutting the US foreign aid. He said, on humanitarian grounds, the US should continue to extend help to other countries, reported the American Bazaar Online.

Questioning Trump's proposal to cut foreign aid, Khanna said that it is un-American. He said that America's foreign aid budget is less than one percent and it should be defended as it goes for "humanitarian causes".

The 40-year-old Khanna said that he felt "annoyed" after Trump commented that it is in "America's national interest" and advised other nations to follow their self-interest.

Citing former President George W. Bush, Khanna said that even Bush helped resuscitate people from the HIV in Africa.

"And here, you know, George Bush, I disagreed with him about everything Bush-Cheney did. The one thing he did, what we should all give him credit for is he helped save people in Africa with HIV," Khanna said.

"We put billions of dollars in foreign aid to help people with the anti-viral drugs."

Khanna said, "The whole idea about American exceptionalism is that we are not all nations... We care about morality. We care about humanity. That's what makes America exceptional. So, we should care about the moral case of what we are gonna do for other countries."