It is only a "novel" claim in America, where America must be the best of everything.
The novelty of the claim really wasn't my main point, nor was trying to make the US out to be the most democratic country. I don't even live there, and it certainly isn't just in the US that this claim would be seen as novel or unconventional. One would think someone who points out the ignorance of "Americans" would not resort to using it themselves in the same discussion.
See the Democracy Index, which rates the US as rather more democratic than India and has at least some semblance of a loose methodology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index
Because they made the claim, and I found this claim more unconventional and potentially more interesting to draw out than the claims in the comment they replied to. There was no conscious hidden agenda here. If someone (on whatever side of this discussion) makes a novel claim, they should be expected to provide a reasonable rationale, or otherwise expect that it will be questioned or just disregarded.