New Delhi, May 25 -- US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Monday doubled down on President Donald Trump's comments lauding India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the backdrop of a controversy over anti-India rhetoric and racist comments emanating from the US.

When Rubio was asked about racist remarks coming from the US against Indians and Indian-Americans at a joint news conference with external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Sunday, he dismissed them as "dumb comments" made by "stupid people".

The US state department posted a video of the question and Rubio's response on social media on Sunday afternoon, but it was subsequently removed.

The question about racist comments was an apparent reference to Trump's amplification of ...