Peter Navarro, Donald Trump’s favourite tariff warrior, has a gift for provocation. He has now dipped into India’s caste politics to explain why Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is, in his telling, “bankrolling” Russia’s war machine with oil purchases.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Navarro – the man who once dreamed up a “Ron Vara” trade expert (who turned out to be fictional) – declared that “Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.” To add spice, he called India the “maharaja of tariffs” and wondered aloud why Modi, “a great leader,” was cosying up to Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping.
That was enough to send Indian commentariot on X and TV news in a tizzy.
On NewsX, the anchor warned that Indian-Americans who once voted Republican were “boiling in their stomachs”. “Let’s dial it down.”
#BREAKING | Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the SCO Summit, says "exploring perspectives" on meeting Xi, Putin@shivaroor | @vishnundtv | @padmajajoshi | #PMModiInChina pic.twitter.com/n5smT7HDqw
— NDTV (@ndtv) September 1, 2025
Over on NDTV, Shiv Aroor cracked that party headquarters across India were probably scrambling to figure out who would be the first to weaponise the “Brahmin” jab. “I think there are probably meetings going on in party headquarters right now. Who will pick it up and say, ‘Dekha, we told you…’”
Sanjeev Sanyal, on the PM’s economic advisory council, tried to take the scholarly route to claim Edward Said’s work applied more to India. “This is derived directly from 19th century colonial jibes going back to the likes of James Mill. Edward Said's point about Orientalism is perhaps more correct for India than his original thesis on Middle East.”
This latest jibe from Navarro - that "Brahmins are profiteering" from Russian oil - tells us a lot about who controls narratives about India and Hindus inside the policy/intellectual spaces of America. This is derived directly from 19th century colonial jibes going back to the…
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) September 1, 2025
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, never one to miss a jab at the Opposition, translated Navarro’s words into a Rahul Gandhi script. “America says Brahmins are benefiting from Russian oil. Who is buying this oil? Is Modi ji a Brahmin? Are the private company owners Brahmins? Looks like Rahul Gandhi’s ignorance has reached America. And if America really wants to talk Brahmins, it should look at Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Indra Nooyi — all CEOs of American companies.”
अमेरिका कह रहा है कि रुस के तेल का फ़ायदा ब्राह्मण जाति को हो रहा है,तेल लेने वाले कौन हैं,भारत सरकार क्या मोदी जी ब्राह्मण हैं? निजी कम्पनी के कौन से मालिक ब्राह्मण हैं? लगता है कि राहुल गांधी जी की अज्ञानता का स्क्रीप्ट अमेरिका पहुँचा है? अमेरिका को सत्य नडेला,सुंदर पिचई,इंदिरा…
— Dr Nishikant Dubey (@nishikant_dubey) September 1, 2025
TMC MP Sagarika Ghose went for a vocabulary lesson reposted by ANI: “‘Boston Brahmin’ was once a term for America’s New England elite. Brahmin in English often just means ‘elite.’ The illiteracy on X is astonishing.”
TMC MP Sagarika Ghose tweets, "'Boston Brahmin' was once a widely used term in the US to refer to the American New England wealthy elite. "Brahmin" is still a term used in the English-speaking world to denote social or economic “elites” (in this case the rich). The illiteracy on… pic.twitter.com/tA3fOmk937
— ANI (@ANI) September 1, 2025
Sena spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi was less forgiving. “Peter Navarro’s Invocation of a particular caste identity in India to make his point, even if it is to imply the ‘privileged lot’ vis a vis the rest , is shameful and sinister. PS: spare me sermons on usage of the word Brahmins in American context,” she wrote.
Peter Navarro’s Invocation of a particular caste identity in India to make his point, even if it is to imply the ‘privileged lot’ vis a vis the rest , is shameful and sinister.
— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) September 1, 2025
PS: spare me sermons on usage of the word Brahmins in American context. https://t.co/p011r9MwdL
There were some memes about Brahmins wondering why Navarro brought them into this.
meanwhile brahmins who are getting 10% less mileage after putting 20% ethanol in their 10 year old alto 800 https://t.co/wYIwDdhagv pic.twitter.com/iHLqtRby1G
— Arjun* (@mxtaverse) September 1, 2025
Pakistan’s former US envoy and journalist Hussain Haqqani couldn’t resist either: “Someone needs to tell him that Ambanis are not Brahmins.”
Peter Navarro is never right. Someone needs to tell him that Ambanis are not Brahmins ♂️ https://t.co/zesJDLIEBO
— Husain Haqqani (@husainhaqqani) September 1, 2025
The only thing everyone seemed sure of was that Navarro himself is still running a trade deficit with reality.
Complaining about the media is easy. Why not do something to make it better? Support independent media and subscribe to Newslaundry today.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
