Trump’s attack dog Peter Navarro gets mad at ‘community notes’ of X for debunking his lies about Russian oil imports by India
Peter Navarro, former trade adviser to US President Donald Trump, slammed Elon Musk on social media platform X. The response came after one of his posts about India’s Russian oil imports was fact-checked by a community post of X on Saturday, 6th September.
Navarro accused Musk of allowing “propaganda” to appear on the platform, but soon found himself at the receiving end of a community note that corrected his claims.
In his post, Navarro wrote, “Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people’s posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap. India buys Russian oil solely to profiteer. It didn’t buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. Indian government’s spin machine is moving at high tilt. Stop killing Ukrainians. Stop taking American jobs.”
Navarro’s flagged post was the latest in a series of such allegations he has made against India over Russian oil trade.
“FACTS: India highest tariffs costs U.S. jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. U.S. taxpayers shell out more. India can’t handle truth/spins @washpo Leftist American fake news,” Navarro’s latest post read.
He was referring to a news piece by The Washington Post, which said that the kind of language being used for India from Washington was worsening diplomatic ties.
Community post of X fact-checked Navarro
A community of X users flagged Navarro’s post, particularly debunking the “profiteer” accusation against India. Here’s what the note read:
“Navarro’s claims are hypocritical. India’s legal, sovereign purchases of Russian oil for energy security do not violate international law. The US, while pressuring India, continues to import billions in Russian goods, like uranium, exposing a clear double standard.”
Not only did the note fact-check Navarro, but it also accused the US of having a “double standard”, citing its good trade with Russia.
An earlier version of the community note had defended India’s intent behind the oil trade, saying the purchase was “for energy security, not just profit”.
Navarro’s long-running attacks on India
This is not the first time Navarro has targeted India over its energy trade. He has repeatedly accused New Delhi of “feeding Russia’s war machine” and recently claimed that India’s tariffs were costing “American jobs.” His latest post was a response to a Washington Post article discussing tensions inside Trump’s administration over how to handle India.
Last week, in an interview with Bloomberg Television, Navarro doubled down on his accusations, saying, “India is helping feed the Russian war machine. I mean Modi’s war, because the road to peace runs, in part, through New Delhi.”
India, however, strongly rejected his statements. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed Navarro’s comments as “inaccurate and misleading.”
Navarro earlier claimed that India’s oil trade with Russia is purely profiteering
The senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing to US President Donald Trump has earlier claimed that India’s import of Russian oil is not driven by ‘domestic demand’ but illicit profiteering.
There is no evidence for this claim. India has to fend for its 1.4 billion people and mitigate domestic demand. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, there was a massive jump in crude oil prices.
Oil Public Service Undertakings (PSUs) in India purchased Russian oil and incurred cumulative losses of $2.5 billion between April 2022 and January 2023, to ensure that domestic fuel prices remained stable.
The Modi government framed rules that mandated private refineries to sell at least 50% of their exported petrol volume back into the domestic market. A similar 30% cap was levied on the export of diesel.
At the same time, an export tax was imposed to prevent massive profiteering. These strategic decisions helped in stabilising fuel prices not just in India but in the world.
It must be mentioned that around that time, OPEC+ countries had cut down on crude oil production by 5.86 million barrels per day. Without India’s timely intervention and key decisions, fuel prices could have spiralled out of control.
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