00:00So, Prerna, we would like to ask you about the neck-to-neck fight that took place.
00:05You said it and so did the rest of the people.
00:08But, like India, the exit poll failed this time as well.
00:13But, whatever it is, what is the meaning of this victory?
00:16The natives of America are watching.
00:20And the Indians who live there,
00:23in their opinion, you must have spoken to them as well.
00:27How do they see this result?
00:31I think a very big lesson that everyone is learning from this historic election is that
00:37you should not believe the polls.
00:39The polls were saying that both have a 50-50 chance.
00:42But, definitely, if you look at the map of America,
00:45Trump has completely turned it red.
00:48And it was not a 50-50 race at all.
00:51Trump has over-performed.
00:53And he has over-performed so much that
00:55states like Georgia and Pennsylvania, which Biden easily won last time,
01:02have flipped this time.
01:04And this time, it is in Trump's pocket.
01:07So, definitely, you are right that the exit polls were saying something else.
01:13And the overall outcome that we are seeing right now was very different.
01:17If we talk about the Indian diaspora,
01:21those who live in the U.S. are majorly legal immigrants.
01:26And they are major highly skilled workers.
01:29They are H-1B visa holders, O-1 visa holders.
01:32So, I don't think they are very worried right now.
01:35Because Trump has repeatedly assured that
01:38he will always keep legal immigration strong.
01:42Like you were discussing, he is a businessman.
01:45And from a business point of view,
01:47it will not be good for the American economy
01:49if he affects legal immigrants in any way.
01:54And as far as the rest of the voters are concerned,
01:57definitely, Trump's supporters are very happy.
02:00Trump has received a whooping 277 electoral votes.
02:04And there was a celebration going on in his Palm Beach, Florida house since last night.
02:09He had a watch party there.
02:11And from where the visuals were coming to see that people are very happy.
02:16So, definitely, he is waiting to see how Trump's next four years will be.
02:24Okay.
02:25As far as the Indian diaspora is concerned,
02:27the students, I remember you mentioned,
02:29the house rents,
02:31and Kamala Harris also mentioned a cut,
02:34that we will give a subsidy,
02:37a cut of up to $6,000, as far as I remember.
02:40What are they hoping for?
02:42And what direction can Trump take?
02:46As far as housing is concerned,
02:48both the candidates made very big promises
02:51that they will bring down the housing rates.
02:54I think housing is a very big issue in America
02:57which cannot be solved very easily.
02:59Because it is not just an issue of homelessness.
03:03For many decades, the housing construction in America has decreased.
03:08Houses are becoming less,
03:10due to which the housing rents or rates are increasing a lot.
03:14So, if we look at it from a business point of view,
03:17Trump can definitely bring a big input in this.
03:20And if more houses are built,
03:22obviously, the rents will be less and the prices will decrease.
03:26So, Trump definitely wants to work in that direction.
03:33Yes.
03:34Absolutely. One final question before we let you go.
03:37Both Srinath Sridharan and Major General S.B. Asthana are there with us.
03:41We discussed with them a host of issues
03:43which are predominantly very specific to India-US relationships.
03:48When it comes to domestic issues in United States,
03:51in our earlier interaction also,
03:54we discussed how Kamala Harris, being a woman,
03:57was a magnet as far as the feminist issues were concerned,
04:03as far as the issues of abortion or maternity leaves were concerned
04:07in the United States.
04:09And above all, being touted to be the first woman president.
04:14What do you think overtook that issue,
04:18the very emotive issue of first woman president,
04:22maternity leaves, abortion laws being reformed?
04:26What overtook that issue?
04:30Let me just remind you, Pankaj,
04:32that the abortion or the overturning of Roe v. Wade
04:36was done through Supreme Court.
04:38And that was the only issue that was a strong point of Kamala Harris.
04:43And federally, if you look at it,
04:46it's not easy to overturn a Supreme Court ruling.
04:49And people knew it.
04:51Even the common average American understood
04:53that it's not easy to overturn or flip back the Supreme Court ruling.
04:58And therefore, Kamala Harris should have spoken about other policies as well,
05:04other than abortion.
05:06Abortion definitely was a strong point,
05:08but that was something that could not have happened in the near future,
05:12and people knew that.
05:14They understood how the policies work in America,
05:17and it's not easy to flip a Supreme Court ruling
05:19where the Supreme Court majorly has Republican justices.
05:28And when the public understands this,
05:31they wanted more from Kamala Harris,
05:33that she could not deliver.
05:35If she would have spoken about inflation,
05:38about solving the border issue,
05:40definitely people would have swayed.
05:42But that was not the case.
05:44She was very media-shy.
05:46She did not speak to media or people for the longest time.
05:49And it was only towards the end of her campaign
05:52that she actually started talking to people,
05:54which was definitely not enough.
05:56And that's what pundits and experts are saying,
05:59that did Kamala want more time with people
06:02because people did not know who she was
06:04and what her policies were apart from abortion.
06:28Not really amongst my friends,
06:30definitely Americans have planned a lot ahead.
06:33I think this is a very historic election
06:35because also talking about the Senate,
06:38Republicans have not just taken over the presidential race,
06:43but they've also taken over the Senate
06:45and the House race is also going on.
06:47So it might be a super majority of Republicans
06:49will have to wait and watch.
06:51So definitely it's a very interesting election
06:53and a lot is at stake at this point.
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