Highlights:
- Republican Rep. Brandon Gill faced criticism over a campaign advertisement.
- The ad highlighted family values but did not feature his Indian-American wife.
- Gill has faced previous backlash over comments about race and immigration.
- Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar criticized Gill’s remarks involving Indian Americans.
- Gill is seeking re-election in Texas’ 26th Congressional District.
REPUBLICAN congressman Brandon Gill has come under criticism after sharing a fundraising advertisement for his re-election campaign that did not include his Indian-American wife.
Gill, who represents Texas’ 26th Congressional District and is seeking re-election, posted the campaign message on X while responding to accusations of racism.
“You can call me by any name you want. I just want my children to grow up in a country that they recognize,” Gill wrote. “Every parent & grandparent needs to read this.”
The campaign image focused on family values but did not feature his wife, Danielle D’Souza Gill, who is of Indian origin.
Gill is married to Danielle, the daughter of Indian-born conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza. Danielle describes herself as a “MAGA Christian patriot” and says she was born in the US. She has appeared in campaign material supporting Donald Trump, and Gill’s website describes her as a “media personality who has consistently defended our conservative values.”
Social media users pointed out that she was missing from Gill’s latest campaign advertisement.
The criticism came days after Gill faced another round of online backlash over a post about racism.
“The left has one debate tactic: call you a racist and pray you shut up. I never will,” Gill wrote on X over a photograph of himself. In the caption, he added, “Calling us racist doesn’t work anymore.”
Democratic congressman Shri Thanedar, who is also of Indian heritage, responded to Gill’s post.
“No one is calling you racist as an attempt to scare you into shutting up. We call you racist because you refer to Indian Americans as ‘7-Eleven workers,’” Thanedar wrote.
“The fact that you married an Indian American shows that you’re just a grifter pandering to a racist base. How pathetic it must be to be that cheap,” he added.
Gill has previously made several comments on immigration and culture.
During an appearance on Benny Johnson’s podcast, Gill argued that East Africans living in the United States are a “net drain” on the economy.
“Not all cultures are equal,” Gill said after Johnson claimed that Somalis are innately less intelligent.
Earlier this year, Gill also circulated a petition calling for Democratic representative Ilhan Omar to be deported. Omar has been a US citizen for 26 years. Gill said the country “would be a much better place if she were sent back to Somalia.”
Gill also exchanged remarks with British journalist Mehdi Hasan, telling him to “go back to the UK” if he wanted to “live in a Muslim country.”
Last June, Gill told now-New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to “go back to the Third World” after photographs showed Mamdani eating rice with his hands.
After some social media users suggested that Gill’s wife may have grown up eating in the same way, Danielle D’Souza Gill responded that she has “always used a fork.”
According to his biography, Gill was born on a military air force base and raised in West Texas. He focuses on border security, government spending and the economy.
