Want to prevent Trump from entering WH: Indian-American doctor

Washington, Mar 14: Immigrants feel uncomfortable and scared after the sudden rise of Donald Trump on the national political stage, an Indian-American doctor-cum-poet has said, adding that he wants to stop the controversial real estate tycoon from entering the White House.

Amit Majumdar, a radiologist based in Dublin, yesterday expressed his anxiety and that of the immigrant community before the two Democratic presidential candidates – Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

"If Donald Trump secures the Republican nomination, I am going to have one mission heading to the ballot box, which is to keep him from taking office," Majumdar said.

A democrat member with leanings towards Clinton, Majumdar was in January appointed the first Poet Laureate of Ohio by state governor John Kasich, who is among the four Republican presidential candidates in the race now. He has published two novels, Partitions in 2009 and The Abundance in 2011. "I'm a son of immigrants.

My parents, both citizens now, have done very well in this great country, and so have I," he told senator Sanders during a CNN-organised townhall in Ohio.

"But as a one per cent ethnic and religious minority, witnessing the rise of Donald Trump, for the first time, my family has started feeling a little uncomfortable here, and frankly, a little bit scared," Majumdar said. An hour later, he posed a similar question to Clinton.

"If Donald Trump secures the Republican nomination, I'm going to have one mission heading to the ballot box, which is to keep him out of office.

So my question to you is which Democratic candidate is going to be best at helping me do that, not just offering the easy condemnations, but actually being able to defeat him?" he asked.

"Leaving aside the negative rhetoric and attack ads, none of which have worked so far, can you share with us three specific points of your anti-Trump game plan?" he asked.

In response, Clinton said she is the only one who can defeat Trump as she has got 600,000 more votes than Trump during the primaries so far.

"I am building a broad-based, inclusive campaign that I think is the best way to defeat, by convincing people that this really is the highest stakes election they have ever been involved in, and they have got to, whether they have ever voted before or not, to come out and vote against Donald Trump and for me," Clinton said.

"I feel I am the best-prepared and ready candidate to take him on," she said amid applause from the audience. However, Sanders claimed he is the "strongest" Democratic candidate "to beat" Trump.

"Because I do have more votes than everybody, anybody, I believe that I have been developing the base that is going to give me the chance to do that," he said.

"The way you beat Trump is to expose him... And, he can be exposed at many, many levels, not the least of which this is a guy who is a billionaire but doesn't think we should raise the minimum wage about USD 7.25 above an hour," he said.

PTI