Donald Trump’s attempts at pronouncing Hindi words during a speech in India had The Daily Show host Trevor Noah in stitches on Monday night’s edition of the show.
President Trump was speaking at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, the world’s largest cricket stadium, in an event billed as “Namaste Trump”, and part of his official welcome to India by prime minister Nehendra Modi.
Mr Noah did give Mr Trump credit for his attempt to “show the Indian people how much he respects them by trying to speak their language.”
“It went about as well as you would think,” added Noah before rolling a montage of highlights from the president’s speech.
From the name of the city he was actually standing in, to well known words associated with Indian culture (Namaste, Ashram, Diwali), to the names of famous sporting personalities and historical figures (Sachin Tendulkar, Swami Vivekananda) — all were mumbled, mangled, and mispronounced.
Mr Noah could barely contain his amusement, noting that “after Trump butchered nearly half the Hindi dictionary, Indian Twitter lost their minds.”
“But to those Indians, I say, please, don’t be mad. Trump may not be able to pronounce Hindi words, but he can’t pronounce English words either. He’s an equal opportunity offender,” said Mr Noah.
Earlier in the segment, Mr Noah covered India's preparations for the president's visit and questioned how Mr Trump would fare given India's largely meat-free diet and the strict vegetarianism practiced by his host Mr Modi.
