Donald Trump, at South Carolina rally, says he may never be excited about a crowd after India visit

Washington: US president Donald Trump has said he would “never be excited about a crowd again” after his visit to India where he addressed a rally of over 1,00,000 people. During his maiden visit to India on  24-25 February, the US president and First Lady Melania were given a rousing welcome in the presence of more than one lakh people at the Motera stadium in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city . [caption id=“attachment_8082151” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US president Donald Trump during the ‘Namaste Trump’ event. PTI[/caption] Addressing a rally in South Carolina on Saturday, the US president recalled the mega ‘Namaste, Trump’ event at the Motera stadium and said, “In India, I hate to say this to you, they actually have 1,29,000-seat stadium. Did you see it? The place was packed, and they did better than most.” “They gave me credit for 1,00,000. That was not bad. It’s 129 (thousand)… The stadium holds 100 (thousand). They had a field that’s about three times…it’s cricket. It’s the biggest stadium. And they had 129,” he said. Trump said he shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is a “great guy” and is “loved by people of India”. “We had an amazing thing. And I went in, and here’s the problem. This is a big crowd and normally, I like talking about my crowd because I get the crowds like nobody. But, I just got back from 140 or 50 or 60,000 people and now I am coming here. What does this place hold, 15? It’s hard to be enthused. You understand that? “I may never be excited again about a crowd after going to India. Think of this, they have 1.5 billion people. We have 350, so we are doing pretty well, I will tell you what, but I love this crowd and I love that crowd too,” the US president told his supporters amid a rousing applause. According to data by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the mega event at the world’s largest cricket stadium on 24 February had a total of 11.69 billion viewing minutes across India.  The BARC estimated that 46 million people watched the event on 180 television channels across the country. Trump arrived in Ahmedabad around noon on 24 February where he and Melania were given a grand reception. From Ahmedabad, he and his delegation travelled to Agra where they visited the Taj Mahal. Trump arrived in Delhi on the evening of 24 February. Modi and Trump held comprehensive talks on February 25 during which they decided to elevate the ties to Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, reflecting growing congruence of interests in strategic areas. The US president and his delegation left India on the evening of 25 February. Trump told the rally that Indians “have a great leader, and they have a great love for the people of this country (US).”