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'He thinks India is Iran': Donald Trump Jr's electoral map sparks ridicule online

US president's son tweets puzzling map which suggests India supports Biden, Iran would vote Trump, and disputed Kashmir is part of Pakistan
A map tweeted by Donald Trump Jr, which appears to have come from a 4chan user, has sparked controversy online (Screengrab)

Donald Trump Jr has been widely mocked after posting a map on social media which suggested US-ally India would have hypothetically voted for Democratic nominee Joe Biden for US president, while archrival Iran would have backed his father Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, as polls opened for the US presidential election, businessman Trump Jr jokingly tweeted his electoral "predictions" in the form of a global map coloured in blue for Democrat and red for Republican.

The map suggested that New York, California, China, Mexico, Liberia, Sri Lanka, Cuba and India would back 77-year-old Biden. 

Several users on social media speculated that Trump Jr may have confused India for Iran. 

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https://twitter.com/thucydiplease/status/1323649660343316480?s=20
https://twitter.com/ilangoldenberg/status/1323656487118508032?s=20

Earlier this year, over 100,000 Indians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, greeted the US president as he opened the world's largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, in an event dubbed 'Namaste Trump'. 

Trump promised India "an incredible trade deal" and "the most feared military equipment on the planet", in what was believed to be his biggest ever rally abroad. 

Equally controversial, the map transferred the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan. 

Just last week, Middle East Eye reported that India had raised "serious concerns" with Saudi Arabia after it depicted Kashmir as a state independent from either India or Pakistan in a new banknote. 

https://twitter.com/ashoswai/status/1323689481296351232?s=20

The inclusion of Liberia as an opponent of Trump also confused many observers. 

"[Trump Jr] chose for all of Africa, other than one country to vote for Donald Trump - Liberia. Liberia was founded as a homeland for freed US slaves," wrote ITV News reporter Shehab Khan.

Some suggested that it's closeness to the word "liberal" may have been the explanation. 

Despite the Trump administration imposing sanctions on Iran, assassinating top general Qassem Soleimani and accusing Tehran of trying to sway the US election, Trump Jr's map suggested his father had Iranian support in the bag.

https://twitter.com/john_sipher/status/1323647632313585665?s=20

Meanwhile, the 74-year-old incumbent could also rely on the votes of Antarctica. 

The sea of red voters was at times literal, with the Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea and Azov Sea all coming out for the president.

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Conversely, the United Arab Emirates, Armenia and Lebanon were among several countries that were deemed non-voting bodies of water. 

https://twitter.com/notlivingmas/status/1323689839867428865?s=20

The map appears to have been copied from a Trump-supporting user active on 4chan - an imageboard website popular with the alt-right. 

Whether Trump Jr posted the map knowing of its geographical and geopolitical inaccuracies remains unclear.

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