'It’s Blood Money': Peter Navarro slams India over Russian oil, targets X fact-check

White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro

White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro, already under fire for his offensive remarks on India’s energy imports, has escalated his attack by targeting social media platform X after it flagged his claims as “misleading.”

“More bullshit from X. Fact: India didn’t buy Russian oil in large quantities before Russia invaded Ukraine. It’s blood money and people are dying. Stick that up your keister Mother Jones and shame on you,” Navarro wrote on X on Monday .

More bullshit from X. Fact: India didn't buy Russian oil in large quantities before Russia invaded Ukraine. It's blood money and people are dying. Stick that up your keister Mother Jones and shame on you. https://t.co/XiMZYZdFGo

— Peter Navarro (@RealPNavarro) September 8, 2025

Navarro had earlier alleged that “Brahmins are profiteering” from India’s Russian crude oil purchases — a statement dismissed as “baseless” by X’s crowdsourced fact-check system, Community Notes.

India strongly rebutted his remarks, with External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stating: “We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Navarro, and obviously reject them.”

Last week, Navarro had described India as an “oil money laundromat for the Kremlin” and accused New Delhi of “strategic freeloading” for continuing to procure Russian weapons while seeking advanced defence cooperation with the United States.

“If India, the world’s largest democracy, wants to be treated like a strategic partner of the US, it needs to act like one,” he said in a series of social media posts.

The tensions come against the backdrop of Washington’s decision under President Donald Trump to double tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent. The new measures include a 25 per cent additional duty specifically tied to India’s Russian oil purchases. The additional tariff has already taken effect, with further levies set to follow from August 27.

New Delhi has criticised the US move as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,” while also questioning why India was singled out when “China, the largest importer of Russian crude oil,” has faced no such punitive action.

India has consistently defended its position, stressing that energy procurement decisions are based on national interest and market dynamics.