Texas Republican Senate candidate Alexander Duncan pushed back on the criticism he received after calling Lord Hanuman “false Hindu God” and said he was merely asking a question and was not doing anything anti-Hindu. The Hindu American Foundation called out his attempt to backtrack his comment and said he was not just asking a question but was spreading hatred against Hinduism. “Why are we allowing a false statue of a false Hindu God to be here in Texas? We are a CHRISTIAN nation,” Duncan wrote in his original post, which created a massive row as he specifically targeted the 90-ft Hanuman statue in Texas.

But in the wake of the controversy, he defended and said he was just raising some questions. “As Americans we need to be comfortable asking questions. What I said in my post about the Hanuman statue in Sugarland was in no way anti-Hindu, I merely asked a question, and as Christians we should be asking these questions because we know what happens when a nation turns their back on God and begins to worship man made idols, Gods, religions etc,” Duncan wrote in a follow-up post.Duncan’s campaign manager also came out in his defence and said Duncan has the right to express his personal beliefs and that he did not call for discrimination. “He has not advocated for policies that would prevent Hindus from practicing their religion. The US was founded with Christian principles, and his perspective is part of a broader dialogue on national identity. There is no evidence that his rhetoric translates into discriminatory actions, and his free speech is protected,” Derek Ayala posted. HAF director Suhag A Shukla slammed Duncan’s defence and asked: “Are you trying to run for Senate, or win the most un-American anti-Hindu troll candidate of the year award?”“You originally asked ‘why are we allowing this’—the answer to that of course is the First Amendment. Now you’re trying to backtrack saying you’re not against freedom of religion, but ‘hey, I’m just pointing out that Hinduism is a false tradition’,” Shukla wrote.