As the Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump swept the polls in the United States on Wednesday, messages of congratulations poured in from across the world. However, unbeknownst to the American public and the President-elect himself, it also created a storm of memes, taunts, and jokes within the Pakistani political sphere, with PTI leaders trolling government leaders for their past critical remarks on Donald Trump.
PTI leaders and supporters claimed that Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal deleted his past tweets critical of the next President of the United States. It should be noted that Ahsan Iqbal has not deleted his old tweets criticising Trump. However, the official page of the ruling party PML-N has indeed deleted its post from 2021 in which Maryam Nawaz compared Trump and Khan.
It must be emphasised that PTI blamed the US for conspiring against its government when Imran Khan was ousted from power through a no-confidence motion in 2022. Founder PTI Imran Khan, in an infamous rally, waved a page in front of a charged crowd, which was allegedly the cypher sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington.
The Intercept, a US-based news website, in August 2023 published what it claimed to be the “cypher” that hinted the US administration wanted to remove Khan from power.
However, later, Khan and his party changed their narratives multiple times while the American-Pakistani community continuously lobbied among US politicians for pressurising Pakistan government to release Imran Khan.
PTI leader Hammad Azhar, who has been in hiding for over a year, posted on X, “Congratulations to @realDonaldTrumpfor winning the US election. Donald was falsely framed, victimised and survived an assassination attempt. It’s the same story as Imran Khan in Pakistan only difference is that our mandate was brazenly stolen. But IK will also be successful soon IA as the people’s power cannot be suppressed for long.”
He also tweeted, “PMLN leaders including Maryam Nawaz, Ahsan Iqbal & others went public in their hate remarks for @realDonaldTrump. Now they are on a delete spree. Unfortunately the ,establishment of Pakistan imposed puppets on us that are not trained in the basics of diplomacy or intl relations.”
French Statesman Charles de Gaulle once said: “Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.”
Since Pakistani politics or its players never cease to amaze, one social media user pointed out Hammad’s tweet from 2016 in which he criticised the former US President himself writing, “Rise of Trump like politicians, protectionist barriers, UK leaving EU, radical Islam; peoples of the world are moving away from each other.”
Another PTI leader, Ali Muhammad Khan, held a press conference saying, “It is hoped that the new US President Donald Trump will realise the mistake that it was wrong to expel Imran Khan on behalf of the Joe Biden government.”
However, the former deputy speaker and another prominent PTI leader who is currently in the United States, Qasim Khan Suri, took to X to blame the Democratic Party for Khan’s fall from power instead of blaming the United States.
Suri posted his speech from 2022 when he was the deputy assembly speaker, in which he blamed the United States for conspiring against Khan due to his alleged “independent foreign policy, economy and the sanctity of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).” Yet, the caption Suri wrote was in clear contrast with the contents of the video, writing, “The crushing defeat of the US Democratic Party, which played an important role in bringing down the government of Imran Khan, in the US presidential election made local facilitators sleepless, many of them immediately issued statements to change their father.”
Suri also took to X to post a viral clip of Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif criticising and comparing Khan with Trump while tagging Trump family members as if complaining.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan’s official account also posted a congratulatory message to Donald Trump for his landslide victory in the US elections.
Former President Arif Alvi also took to X to congratulate Trump while comparing his political struggles with Khan, including the assassination attempt on both leaders. “On behalf of the people of my country, and as the 13th President of Pakistan, I would like to congratulate you on your resounding victory to ‘Make America Great Again’. We look forward to continued cooperation as democratic nations. Indeed, your victory must have sent shivers down the spine of dictators and aspiring dictators of the world,” wrote Alvi.
