Dinesh D’Souza’s Son-In-Law, Rep.Brandon Gill Mocks Indian Eating Tradition

India-West News Desk

DALLAS, TX – Texas Congressman Brandon Gill, a MAGA Republican is facing mounting criticism after a xenophobic social media post targeting Indian American politician Zohran Mamdani. The Texas lawmaker—who is married to Indian American Danielle D’Souza, daughter of right-wing commentator Dinesh D’Souza—mocked Mamdani for eating rice with his hands in a resurfaced video, calling it uncivilized and urging him to “go back to the Third World.”

“Civilised people in America don’t eat like this. If you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the Third World,” Gill wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The backlash was swift. Social media users condemned Gill’s remarks as racially charged and hypocritical—especially given his close familial ties to Indian culture. Critics unearthed old images showing his father-in-law, Dinesh D’Souza, eating with his hands and blasted Gill for what they called a blatant cultural double standard.

“How do you eat tacos, french fries, burgers etc?” one user asked mockingly. Another posted a picture of D’Souza eating with his hands, captioned, “Hello Civilised person from America. Here’s your father-in-law Dinesh D’Souza ‘eating like this’.”

Danielle D’Souza Gill, Gill’s wife, attempted to defend her husband’s stance, posting: “I did not grow up eating rice with my hands and have always used a fork. I was born in America. I’m a Christian MAGA patriot. My father’s extended family lives in India and they are also Christian and they use forks too.”

Observers noted that the criticism was not just about cultural ignorance, but also about the implicit racism in Gill’s framing of eating traditions from non-Western cultures as “uncivilized.” Eating with one’s hands is a widely respected and long-standing practice in South Asian households.

Adding to the furor, far-right activist Laura Loomer joined in with typical and even more inflammatory rhetoric, attacking Mamdani for both his heritage and political views. “Being an Islamist and a Communist was enough for me to not want @ZohranKMamdani in office,” she wrote. “He is from Africa. And you can tell in the way he eats. Disgusting.”

Showing her lack of exposure to world culture and steeped once again in crudeness, Loomer posted: “@ZohranKMamdani eats his food and licks his fingers with his right hand. We already know what he does with the left hand as a ‘third worlder’. You don’t want to shake either hand.”