While certain states like California are exuberantly celebrating the statewide holiday for the ‘Hindu Festival of Lights’ or Diwali, some members of the far-right political community in the US, aka those from the MAGA camp didn’t mince their words while spewing hate comments about the festival.

US President Donald Trump’s administration itself boasts the inclusion of certain Indian origin or Hinduism-following officials like FBI Director Kash Patel (of Gujarati Indian descent) and Tulsi Gabbard. While the latter does not share any Indian link, she does follow the Hindu faith. Accordingly, both of them resorted to sharing warm Diwali wishes on the social media platform X, but were ultimately bombarded with a series of problematic and hateful comments.

Amid the rising debate surrounding the H-1B visa category, which is largely dominated by Indian nationals, American citizens have continued launching a barrage of hate-comments like “Deport all Indians.” In the meantime, the Hindu faith, which remains the largest religion in India, has also recently come under repeated attacks in the US, as widely depicted on the Internet.

Tulsi Gabbard gets hate for Diwali message

Just a day ago, Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, who was also the first Hindu to be elected in the US Congress, posted a heartfelt message for all those celebrating Diwali. “Sending my heartfelt wishes to everyone who is celebrating Diwali! May the light of God’s love guide our path, remove the shadows of doubt, and inspire us to reflect His love in all that we do,” she wrote on X.

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The comments section thread under the post highlighted the emergence of a troubling and bigoted pattern. Comments like “Not My GOD!” and middle finger emoticons consumed the space. Some asked her to stop sharing such posts, others expressed their “disgust” for the same. A user even went as far as asking her to “Get out of my country.” While positive messages wishing her a Happy Diwali also made the cut, another person declared, “Diwali is un-American. Move to India.”

FBI Director Kash Patel dragged for celebrating Diwali

Kash Patel was hit with similar heartbreaking comments under his own Diwali X post. “Seek Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the light,” someone wrote. Another slandered Diwali altogether, calling it a “Hellish celebration.” More statements like “Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation,” “All I see is river pollution in the name of a festival that has nothing to do with USA,” and “This is America. We don’t celebrate Diwali” took over the comments section.

On the flip side, a user pointed out: “It’s amusing how much racist hatred is being spewed on Kash by Christians likely of his own party in the comments to this post. All this for being unapologetic about his Dharma. There really are two Americas and the Bill of Rights should be read with a pinch of salt.”

Ex-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley faces hate on Diwali

Nikki Haley, who is a fellow Republican Party member like Donald Trump, was also dragged in a similar fashion on the platform. “Happy Diwali!! May light, hope, and goodness guide your path this year,” she tweeted earlier this week. The former presidential candidate (born to Sikh parents in India ultimately converted to Christianity) tried to hold up her own when faced with such derogatory remarks in the comments.

“So India first, Nikki?” someone questioned her position with the Diwali post. As a response, she shared the official US “Presidential Message on Diwali,” adding, “Have a great day, Michele! Wishing you light, hope and goodness as well.” And yet, someone else followed up with the comment, “Repent, pagan.”

MAGA hate on Diwali mounts up

US President Donald set aside his immigration rebukes on Tuesday afternoon (US time), as he lit diyas in the Oval Office, with Indian-origin Kash Patel and several other Indian American business executives by his side. However, nothing stopped the ‘Make America Great Again’ camp from ramping up the hate-train directed at Hindus and those celebrating the Festival of Lights.

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British-American journalist Mehdi Hassan called out two such people in a tweet. “The MAGA leaders still haven’t quite realized what kind of base they have created/emboldened/incited. Talk about Frankenstein and monsters,” he wrote online, while sharing screenshots of Bradley Pierce and Joel Webbon’s disturbing reactions to Diwali festivities.

Bradley Pierce, a constitutional attorney and the face of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, has been posting multiple hate tweets over the Diwali week. One such post read, “Making America great again means we should be repenting of idolatry in our land, not celebrating it.” Another said, “Diwali is the worship of demonic false gods. No Christian should be celebrating it.” Re-posting Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s picture of Diwali celebrations, he even wrote, “Celebrating the worship of false gods provokes the righteous judgement of Christ upon our land.”

Meanwhile, Joel Webbon, an American Christian nationalist pastor, independently penned his thoughts: “‘Paperwork Americans’ are NOT Americans. I will NOT honour their ‘holy’ days. I will NOT respect their false gods and idols. I will NOT tolerate their lectures on who is a ‘true’ Christian and a ‘real’ American. ‘Silence, American ‘citizen.’ A Christian America in speaking.”

On the other hand, he also torched Kash Patel’s Diwali post, furiously telling him to “Go back home and worship your sand demons.” Webbon then added, “Get out of my country.”

MAGA referring to Hindu Gods as “pagan” echoes Texas Republican politician Alexander Duncan calling Lord Hanuman a “false” god, while alluding to a 90-ft bronze statue in Texas.