Navarro at it Again, Calls India’s Purchase of Russian Oil “Blood Money”
NEW DELHI, Sept 8: The US President Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro fired another shot at Elon Musk-owned X on Monday, after it yet again showed “community notes” adding context to his claims about India’s purchase of Russian oil.
These oil purchases have been cited as a reason by the US for imposing “penal” massive 50% tariffs on Indian goods and services, despite signs of a thaw between Trump and PM Narendra Modi a couple of days ago.
Navarro reacted on Monday after users in X notes shared links to articles that said India was not the only one buying Russian oil despite its war on Ukraine. Calling it “more bullshit from X,” Navarro said, “Fact: India didn’t buy Russian oil in large quantities before Russia invaded Ukraine.” He called these purchases “blood money,” repeating an assertion he’s made in earlier posts.
Among the notes, Navarro appeared angry specifically over a reference from a website called ‘Mother Jones.’ A highlighted line from it said “calling facts ‘foreign lies’” is misinformation that Navarro is “known for.” The Mother Jones article, however, appeared to have been removed when it was checked as to what it had really said.
The notes also carried information on how users themselves contribute to generate these notes. Navarro, however, has held X owner Elon Musk, Trump’s ex-friend and former top advisor, directly responsible for these notes. This ongoing back-and-forth is part of a meta narrative between Navarro and the X functionality over the past few days. Navarro’s been making posts, to which community notes are added by X — and the circle goes on.
On Monday, notes appeared on his earlier post in which he claimed “Indian special interests trying to interfere with domestic dialogue with lies about India buying Russian oil.” He had asked: “Should X present this crap as comments from ‘diverse viewpoints’?”
The Navarro-X subplot continues even as India sticks to its sovereign decision to buy oil from Russia. Indian officials have reminded the American establishment how it encouraged India to buy Russian oil even after the Ukraine war began, since that kept prices from spiking.
The resultant impasse has not dissuaded Navarro, or even Trump, from making disparaging remarks blaming PM Modi for the conflict and accusing India of “fuelling the Russian war machine.” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has, too, criticised India along these lines, saying its oil deals give Russia revenue that it uses for the war. India has kept a “for peace, not war” stance of neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
(Manas Dasgupta)
