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 more than 100,000 people.
During his maiden visit to India on February 24-25, Trump and First Lady Melania were given a rousing welcome at the Motera stadium in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad city.
Addressing a rally in South Carolina, the US President recalled the ‘Namaste, Trump’ event and said: “In India, I hate to say this to you, they actually have 129,000-seat stadium. Did you see it? The place was packed, and they did better than most. They gave me credit for 100,000. 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...”
“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. 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,” he told his supporters amid a rousing applause.
Trump told the rally that Indians “have a great leader, and they have a great love for the people of this country (US).”
According to data by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the mega event at the world’s largest cricket stadium on February 24 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.