‘Never seen an Indian…’: US political influencer defends Asian students amid exam cheating claims

An online debate over Asian and Indian students in US universities has flared up after an American political influencer pushed back strongly against allegations of cheating in exams.The row began after an X user claimed that Asian, especially Indian, students routinely cheated during exams at Rutgers University. The user wrote that his father, who taught computer science there for over a decade, would come home “upset and demoralized” because Asian students would “cheat en masse on exams” and then deny it even when caught. The post ended by suggesting that this showed “different philosophies of success”.The claim drew a response from American political scientist Richard Hanania. Replying on X, Hanania said: “Yeah, well I’ve never seen an Indian cheat in my life!” He went on to add that a lot of these claims are based on racism against Indians: “Some forms of racism rely on data. Others rely on anecdotes. Don’t be an anecdotal racist. It’s too easy to tell yourself stories you want to hear.”

Hanania has previously defended Indians and Asian communities against negative portrayals. Earlier this month, the right-wing analyst had criticised anti-Indian hate and praised Indian workers after a report showed they earn the highest median pay in Germany. In a post, he wrote: “Indians win again. How can a group be so beneficial while bringing no harms across so many countries? It’s absolutely awe-inspiring.”Hanania has previously said that “anti-Indian hate is the dumbest form of racism” and has defended H-1B visas, which allow skilled foreigners to work in the US legally. He has also spoken out against anti-India rhetoric within conservative circles, including criticism of figures such as Steve Bannon and Ron DeSantis.Indian and other Asian students make up the largest share of international students in the United States. Indians are the biggest single group, largely studying STEM subjects such as engineering, computer science and data science. China is the second largest source country. Most Asian students are enrolled at the graduate level and play a major role in US universities through tuition fees, research output, innovation and skilled labour contributions.