- 8 minutes ago
This special broadcast of The News Today, anchored by Rajdeep Sardesai, examines the United States midterm election results after Democrats secured majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Good evening, hello and welcome, you're with the news today. This is your prime time destination news, newsmakers, talking points
00:06tonight, a very special show on a day when America's voter has been heard loud and clear, not just in
00:13the United States, but across the world. Donald Trump has suffered his biggest setback as President of the United States
00:212.0. Let's get straight cracking into our special show. But first, the nine headlines at nine.
00:30Donald Trump and the Republican wall crumble as Democrats sweep the U.S. Congress, both the House and the Senate.
00:39Vivek Ramaswamy, among others, hammered in the elections. Trump now says he's all set to become a veto president but
00:47is ready to work with the Democrats.
00:51After what is being described as a blue tsunami in the United States, Democrats vowed to probe the Epstein files
00:59and other corruption abuses involving Trump. Incoming House Oversight Panel head warns, those facing scrutiny must lawyer up.
01:11In a major move by the government sent Agni Veers not selected as regular soldiers after four years to get
01:18a two-year extension, all Agni Veers to be eligible for regular enrollment thereafter.
01:27Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sounds the pole bugle in Punjab rains fire on the Maan government over law and order
01:34drug abuse in the state.
01:36AARP hits back says Congress has no vision for Punjab.
01:41Delhi's air quality worsens further. A blame game erupts after BJP blames trouble burning in Punjab. Bhagawan Maan rains fire,
01:50alleges a bid to defame the farmers of the state.
01:56Supreme Court issues a notice to the election commission over a plea challenging blanket immunity to the chief election commissioner.
02:04Plea claims immunity leads to no accountability, urges Supreme Court to declare 2023 CEC law as unconstitutional.
02:15Trouble mounts for Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah amidst growing discontent.
02:20Around 10 to 15 discontent. MLA's hold a meeting in Srinagar. MLA's unhappy over recent cabinetry shuffle in JNK.
02:30Karnataka government accepts in court that they are in financial constraints to deliver their guarantee scheme.
02:36Move after the DKS government hikes bus fares across all four state-run transport corporations.
02:44And Virat Kohli delivers a masterclass after another match-winning performance in Auckland.
02:51Despite a late middle-order wobble, India hold their nerve to beat New Zealand and take a 1-0 lead
02:56in the series.
03:06Trump flunks mid-term test.
03:10Blue wave sinks Republicans.
03:14Democrats take Congress.
03:19Cost of living costs.
03:22Republicans dear.
03:24Donald trumped by America.
03:30Hello and welcome then to this India Today special.
03:34America has delivered what is best described in American parlance as a showstopper verdict.
03:40One that could dramatically alter the course of politics in that country and across the world.
03:46The US mid-term polls have seen Donald Trump and his Republicans not just defeated but virtually routed.
03:53The Democrats have taken control now of both houses of Congress.
03:57The House of Representatives and the Senate.
04:00Today is a major day in American politics.
04:04Before I tell you exactly what happened, I want to go to our man on the spot.
04:09Rohit Sharma is joining me.
04:10He's tracking all that's happened at the White House.
04:13Rohit, good to have you on the show.
04:16It's been a pretty dramatic day.
04:17Perhaps the scale of the victory is what people are surprised by.
04:21You know many in the Trump administration.
04:23Are they still in a state of shock?
04:26Or did they expect some kind of a blue wave?
04:28Were they anticipating the worst?
04:31I think there was a sense initially, Rajdeep, that they would lose the House, which is what happens to every
04:37incumbent in modern history.
04:39So I think that that was their understanding, that they might lose the House.
04:42And this is exactly why President Donald Trump was campaigning in deep red states so as to be able to
04:48preserve majority in the Senate.
04:50And that was his focus.
04:51There have been polling that said, you know, Democrats might get 50 or 51, 52.
04:56But the sheer magnitude of the vote against the policies, I think that's shocked a lot of people.
05:02The fact that, you know, they're not going to be able to regain Senate at least up until 2032, that
05:09puts even the next president, even if it's a Republican president, under the gun of a Senate majority leadership of
05:15the Democrats.
05:16So it is it is a shocker. But President Trump, as he was giving his soundbites to various media and
05:23U.S. channels, sounded like he wants to work with the Democrats.
05:27He also said that he's already spoken to a few Democratic leaders and they might be able to work something
05:31out.
05:32So we'll have to wait and watch.
05:33President Trump also blaming the candidates themselves, saying the candidates were not good enough.
05:38He was not on the ballot, which is true.
05:40But at the same time, I think the mandate against the policies that administration has done, especially when it comes
05:46to economy, inflation, the war in Iran and the rising cost of diesel.
05:54And for you, what was the biggest victory of the day?
05:58If you were to ask you, Roy, you were tracking all the elections.
06:01Was there one that even surprised you?
06:04You know, the one that surprised everybody, Rajdeep, is Texas.
06:08Texas is has been the big red state for it's like the velvet of the Republicans forever.
06:14So for James Talarico to win that election, not only him to win that election, flip that Senate seat.
06:19And then for the governor, Governor Greg about to lose that election against Gina Hinsuza, who was she was just
06:25pulling like three, four, six points behind him.
06:27I think that tells you that the grip of the of the of the of the MAGA, you know, is
06:32sort of loosening over those states.
06:34You talk about Texas, you all again, other states, including winning a Senate seat in Kansas.
06:40We've never heard that, you know, for decades.
06:42So I think the bigger thing is, Rajdeep, these this these changes, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, Ohio.
06:49What they do is they bring these states into play when America goes to the presidential election in 2028 and
06:56Texas would be a game changer for them.
07:02Rohit Sharma, for joining us there, we'll have much more from you, of course, in the course of the night.
07:07Thanks very much for joining us.
07:09It has been a devastation in that sense for Donald Trump.
07:12The red wall that he had tried to build, the MAGA coalition that Rohit spoke about, has been totally breached
07:18with Democrats making significant gains across the country, winning in Texas after 30 years, winning in Kansas after a century.
07:27And as a result, they flipped both houses of the Congress and the House of Representatives.
07:33Donald Trump has reacted to the results, first questioning the outcome, eventually acknowledging it and expressing a willingness to work
07:42with Democrats.
07:42Democrats. Can we expect Donald Trump, though, to course correct?
07:45That's going to be my talking point with some experts joining me.
07:49But first, take a look at a dramatic day in U.S. politics.
08:01America is angry with Donald Trump.
08:04A blue tsunami has sunk Republicans in a stunning reversal from 2024 presidential elections.
08:10Democrats reached the MAGA heartland on Wednesday, flipping seven Senate seats, wrestling control of both houses of Congress.
08:19The scale of victory surprised the Democrats even more than it shocked the Republicans.
08:25Just look at the scale.
08:30James Talarico won the Texas Senate seat for Democrats, their first win since 1994.
08:38We just took back Texas.
08:40We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas.
08:47We just showed that a politics of division is no match for a politics of love.
08:58Even bigger is the verdict from Kansas, where Adam Hamilton won Democrats their first Senate seat since 1932.
09:06The last Democrat to win Kansas was George S. McGill, who was born in 1879.
09:16The fiercely contested Michigan was won by Abdul Al-Sayed, who becomes the first Muslim to be elected to Senate.
09:23His wife, Sarah, is an American of Indian origin.
09:31Habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you're constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January.
09:43The message is clear.
09:45Rising cost of living and West Asia war played on the American voters' mind.
09:52President Donald Trump's reactions ranged from defiance to acceptance.
09:57He posted a message on Truth Social, claiming the results would have been different had he been on the ballot.
10:03He then posted a photo of a cab, which read Veto.
10:07And finally, he gave interviews to American television channels and newspapers, accepting the results and saying he looks forward to
10:14working with the Democrats.
10:19Donald Trump will not have a cakewalk anymore.
10:22His agenda will be contested by the Congress.
10:25But will he be a lame duck president?
10:28Once thing is certain, with Trump, you can expect the unexpected.
10:34Bureau Report, India Today.
10:39Okay, let's raise the big question then at the top of the show.
10:41What's the message that has been sent out today by U.S. voters?
10:45Has economics trumped divisive politics in America?
10:48Will Donald Trump now be a lame duck president?
10:51Will Trump now be willing to end the war in West Asia?
10:54Special guests will be joining me right through the show.
10:56My first guest is Ravi Agarwal, editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy.
11:00Good to have you, Ravi, on the show.
11:02So your first takeaway from what has been, many believe, a tectonic day in U.S. politics.
11:08Rajdeep, it's a rout.
11:10I think the Democrats have performed better than many expected, including the pollsters.
11:15As you've noted, they've won the House.
11:17But perhaps more importantly, they've won the Senate.
11:19And they've won both by a big margin.
11:22A simultaneous flip of both the House and the Senate has not happened much in American history.
11:28This is just the fourth time since World War II that we've seen such a double flip take place.
11:34And the way I'm looking at this, Rajdeep, primarily because the Democratic candidates were a very wide slate.
11:42They included centrists, for example, a former pastor who's now the senator of Kansas.
11:48And they also included people on the left, in the far left even, members of the Democratic Socialists of America.
11:56So for that kind of a wide tent to accommodate that many views, what it tells me, Rajdeep, is that
12:04this is a vote that is not so much for a clear vision or a clear sense of what comes
12:09next,
12:10but it instead is a vote against what they have seen in the last two years of Trump's second term,
12:19but specifically in the last eight months since the start of the war in Iran, which is deeply unpopular in
12:25the United States
12:26and has led to price hikes that people are telling us quite openly they don't like.
12:35So are you saying, therefore, Ravi, that this is anti-incumbency, that this was a negative vote against what Donald
12:44Trump had promised
12:45and failed to deliver with the Iran war and its impact on gas prices being a big turning point?
12:52Yeah, I'm saying a version of that, Rajdeep.
12:55I don't think it's just anti-incumbency.
12:58I think it's more than that.
12:59It is specifically a sense of betrayal, a sense that among the Trump voters, the people who did vote for
13:07him in 2024,
13:09I think there is a group that feels that we may have voted for you to break the system as
13:17an anti-establishment candidate,
13:19except you have done the thing that you promised you won't do.
13:23So Trump had campaigned on ending wars both in his first term and his second term.
13:29And he has really done the opposite this year, not only with Venezuela, but I think most consequentially with Iran
13:37and the economic impact that has had on regular Americans in the form of gas prices,
13:43in the form of higher inflation on a range of goods, on farmers who are affected by the rise in
13:49diesel prices, on imports because of tariffs as well.
13:52I think what we're seeing is a repudiation of those policies, in addition to many other factors, for example, very
13:59visible corruption on the part of the Trump family.
14:01But broadly, that is what this vote suggests to me now, whether this is, in some senses, heralding a different
14:11vision, we don't quite know, because to me, it is unclear who is actually leading the Democratic Party.
14:17They need to have their own debate about, you know, what they truly stand for, what kinds of policies they
14:23will champion in the coming years.
14:25We don't know that. For now, it really is just part of this global mood of protest and out with
14:32the old.
14:37You know, Ravi, hold on to your thoughts. I'm also joined at this moment by Alan Lakeman, American historian and
14:42election forecaster, and Shashank Joshi,
14:44who is the foreign correspondent for The Economist based in the Washington Bureau Chief. Good to have both of you
14:50as well.
14:50Alan, your first reactions, you've been someone who was predicting this.
14:54I remember interviewing you a few weeks ago and you suggested that Donald Trump is going to bring down the
15:01Republican Party with him,
15:02and that seems to have happened. Your first reaction. Are you surprised by the scale of it?
15:06Yes, I wasn't surprised at all. As you say in our interview, I predicted a rout.
15:13And there are four whammies that face the Republicans.
15:17Number one, the unpopular war in Iraq, the most unpopular war in all of U.S. history.
15:26Typically, the American people early on rally behind the flag.
15:30That never happened with this misbegotten war.
15:33From the start to the present, Americans overwhelmingly disapproved of a war that has done nothing but achieve death and
15:42destruction horribly and undermine the world and the U.S. economy.
15:47The second one, of course, was what's going on domestically with inflation and the economy.
15:54You know, Donald Trump can puff and he can puff, but he can't change what Americans are experiencing at the
16:02gas pump in the grocery.
16:03Third problem was democracy and corruption, something I don't think I've ever seen before.
16:13A threat to democracy rising nearly to the top of issues that Americans are concerned about, right behind inflation and
16:24the economy.
16:24And the fourth, of course, was the fact that Donald Trump's approval ratings are historically low.
16:31As I pointed out ahead of time, that when a presidential approval rating is this low, on average, the White
16:41House Party loses 40 House seats and six Senate seats.
16:47That's pretty close to what we're getting.
16:53You know, I'm going to just, you know, fix your audio in a moment, but I think our viewers have
16:58got your four big points.
16:59Shashank, your first reactions, you know, from a foreign policy, someone who tracks foreign policy also closely.
17:06Do you believe that Donald Trump was sunk primarily by what his foreign policy did to the domestic economy?
17:16Was it a case of the economy, stupid, or is it something much more than that?
17:21Well, I think he was sunk primarily by the economic consequences of the war.
17:26And you can see how his own approval rating tracks almost perfectly to the rise in gas prices.
17:33And not only that, but you can also see that if you look at those states that were most reliant
17:39on diesel or fuel for agriculture, for industry, for ordinary driving over long distances, it was often those states where
17:51we've seen some of the biggest impact.
17:53But I would say when you look at this extraordinary Hispanic swing all over the country, but especially in Florida,
18:00in Texas, there is also an element there of pushback, of a rebuke to the Trump administration's excesses on immigration
18:12policy and ICE raids.
18:14And therefore, I wouldn't attribute this entirely to the war and to Iran.
18:18I think there are also other factors here of deep disaffection with the way that the Trump administration has governed,
18:26even outside of the Middle East.
18:31You know, Ravi, the obvious question for us in India is how will this change Donald Trump's approach to the
18:38war in Iran, which has affected us as well?
18:40How will it change, for example, Donald Trump's government's attitude towards India when it comes to whether it's H-1B
18:45visas or trade and tariffs?
18:48Do you see anything changing, Ravi?
18:49Do you see Donald Trump waking up tomorrow morning and saying, OK, I'm going to strike a deal with Tehran?
18:54I spoke of regime change in Tehran.
18:58Actually, the regime change took place in Texas, as the joke goes.
19:02Do you see anything changing, particularly from looking at it from a perspective of someone here in South Asia?
19:09You know, in the short term, Rajdeep, I don't think that these results should change the trajectory of what Trump
19:15might have done anyway on Thursday or Friday morning.
19:18I think there's been talk in the United States about maybe a renewal of hostilities.
19:23There's been talk also about a renewal of hostilities on the part of Israel.
19:28So were one to start it, the other would have to join.
19:31And in a sense, the electoral fates of Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, in that sense, are somewhat linked.
19:38But outside of the calculation of whether they should or shouldn't do that, I think the link to the election
19:47really is that Congress is now going to have a greater voice.
19:51They will use that voice to speak out about their power of the purse, for example, their ability to fund
19:58wars in the longer term.
19:59Again, usually you don't cut off funding midway on a national security issue, but they will find a voice to
20:06be able to challenge the administration more, to ask questions, to have inquiries, to stymie them in various ways, not
20:14just on West Asia, but also other arenas.
20:17So I think those elements of the election could end up affecting policy vis-a-vis Iran in the longer
20:25term, but not really in the next couple of weeks or so, which was the sort of urgent part of
20:31this question that we've all been looking at for the last few months.
20:34But to your point about India, I am not sure I would expect too many changes on the U.S.-India
20:41front, as you and I have spoken about this before, but I think the broader trajectory of the relationship has
20:47been on the up for the last three decades.
20:51Trump was a shock of sorts.
20:53If anything, in the ongoing trade negotiations, I think the Indian side will have one eye on the clock now.
21:00If they didn't already think that they could wind down the clock on some elements or that they could impose
21:07some more pressure on Trump than they did before, these results will give them a little bit more of a
21:12voice to do that and to play the negotiations to their advantage to some degree.
21:17But broadly, I am not imagining big changes for India on this in the immediate horizon.
21:27Yes, yes.
21:29You know, I want to come to you, Shashang.
21:32What's your sense, Shashang, from what you're seeing around you?
21:38Are we going to see a very different Donald Trump, a much more humbler Donald Trump, or is that simply
21:43not in his character?
21:45You know, I was talking to a Democratic strategist who had served in the Clinton administration and was asking him,
21:52what is it like in the final stretch, the final two years of an administration?
21:56And he said, what tends to happen all the time is presidents become more like themselves.
22:02They don't change.
22:03They become more like themselves.
22:05And to your point, Donald Trump does not do introspection.
22:10He does not do contrition.
22:11And although last night he was uncharacteristically perhaps humble about the results, he was still emphatically blaming others for the
22:23outcome rather than reflecting on the root causes in his own decision making.
22:29And therefore, what I expect to see is a leader who is beset by domestic political troubles at home.
22:37He will be swamped with hearings and subpoenas by the new Democratic House.
22:42In fact, we saw perhaps the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee post last night lawyer up.
22:49And in that environment, I would fully expect the president to seek solace in areas where he's unconstrained.
22:57And that is foreign policy.
22:58And the first test will be Iran.
23:01But he also has a pair of summits coming up with Xi Jinping before the year is out.
23:06He has unfinished business in Cuba, which, of course, is a huge sort of priority for this administration and seeking
23:15some kind of lasting change in Cuba.
23:17And in all of those theaters, he will be largely unconstrained by this Democratic majority, other than, of course, through
23:25their ability to withhold budget.
23:27Though Democratic and opposition parties have been very reluctant to withhold money for the armed forces in wartime.
23:34And so I expect to see a hyperactive president on the world stage.
23:38Presidents always travel more abroad in the final two years of their time in office.
23:43But I also finally would expect him to do a little bit of his legacy, thinking about his legacy.
23:48And some of that is abroad.
23:50But I think some of that will also be at home, building statues, building the ballroom, constructing the arch, constructing
23:56golf courses.
23:57There will be sort of a narcissistic domestic legacy element to all of this as well.
24:06You know, Ravi, therefore, in conclusion, from what I've heard, from what Alan was saying about what corruption has done
24:12to this government,
24:14what Trump's flawed foreign policies have done to this government, do you see course correction?
24:20Or do you believe Donald Trump is someone who doesn't really care about public opinion,
24:24not even after such an overwhelming defeat for his MAGA coalition?
24:27Do you see him course correcting at all?
24:31So I think Trump cares immensely about what people think.
24:34He wants to be liked.
24:36He wants to be loved.
24:37I imagine these results have hurt him.
24:39He will try to cognitively convince the world and himself that he was not on the ballot and that this
24:45is not about him.
24:46But it really is about him.
24:49In agreeing with everything Shashank just said, I want to add just one more point of constraint on Trump in
24:57the next two years.
24:58And I think some of the constraints that will emerge on him are actually systemic and of his own doing.
25:05And I think the United States, in executing this war in Iran over the last several months, they have sharply
25:14diminished their own military capacity.
25:17I think it is well known now that the diminishment of its Patriot missile interceptors, its TAD interceptors, for example,
25:26this lessens its ability to protect itself abroad, to protect its bases, to project power abroad.
25:33And I think this adds up to then suggest that Trump's coercive capacity has been declining for several months now,
25:43but will continue to be a pretty significant restraint on any of the ideas he might have.
25:49I mean, Shashank pointed out he might look at Cuba.
25:52He might look elsewhere.
25:53That remains the case.
25:55But militarily, the United States is weakened, and that constrains some of the adventurism that Trump had in mind.
26:03There are other constraints, by the way.
26:05The courts, which have been holding up some of his tariffs, are going to feel more emboldened.
26:11I think Congress will feel much more emboldened than they were before.
26:16Yes, they can't really stop him.
26:18I don't think they're going to look at an impeachment, for example.
26:21They've learned their lessons from the first term, but inasmuch as they can create a lot more noise,
26:27and they can stymie appointments, for example, they can slow Trump down.
26:32So he is, I think, well and truly entering what we can now call a lame duck phase.
26:42He's entering a lame duck phase.
26:44We'll wait and see how that plays out.
26:45But Ravi Agarwal, Shashank Joshi, two very fine voices for joining us
26:49and putting in some context what's happened along with Alan earlier.
26:53Thank you very much for joining me here on the show today.
26:57Of course, the other big question is the war in Iran, because that has immediate impact on India.
27:02I spoke a short while ago to a very special guest.
27:05Listen.
27:12Okay, let's then move on to our next special guest on this big day.
27:16Joining me now is Ambassador John Bolton.
27:19He was former National Security Advisor to Donald Trump between 2018 and 2019.
27:24Good to have you, Mr. Bolton, on the show.
27:27Do you agree with the view that the American voter has also repudiated,
27:32rejected Donald Trump's foreign policy,
27:35particularly the manner in which he has prosecuted this war in Iran?
27:40Would you say this is a huge thumbs down by the U.S. voter to Donald Trump's foreign policy?
27:47Well, I think it's a huge defeat for Trump,
27:50but I think it really doesn't have that much to do with foreign policy.
27:53I think it has to do with his request, repeated many times,
27:58that people should pretend he's on the ballot.
28:01In other words, make the election into a referendum about him.
28:04And the principal issue that Democrats were able to take advantage of was economic concerns.
28:11People were worried about inflation.
28:12They were worried about job security.
28:14They didn't think that the president was paying attention to them.
28:18He was more concerned with building monuments in Washington.
28:22And where the war in Iran comes into it, and it was a factor,
28:26was not so much dissatisfaction with the war
28:29as it was dissatisfaction with the obvious impact
28:33that the war had on global oil and gas prices
28:36and, therefore, increased prices to American consumers.
28:40And that's what they were objecting to,
28:42having heard nothing close to a sufficient explanation from Trump
28:46why he had started the war to begin with.
28:52So where I'm coming to, Ambassador Bolton, is do you believe, therefore,
28:58that Donald Trump would now think twice
29:00before further prosecuting the war against Iran?
29:03Or do you believe he will completely make a distinction
29:06between domestic politics and how he sees his strategic goals?
29:14Well, I think it's a perfectly legitimate question,
29:17but I have to tell you,
29:18I don't think Donald Trump has the slightest idea
29:20of what he's going to do on Iran.
29:22I think at this moment,
29:25he has finally had to confront the issue.
29:28What has obsessed him for the past several months
29:31has been the price at the pump
29:33for the American consumer of gasoline.
29:36But now he has to reckon that for well or ill,
29:39mostly ill in this case,
29:41the political consequences have been felt.
29:43Now what is he going to do on the geostrategic reality
29:46that confronts the U.S., Israel, and its friends in the Gulf?
29:50And he could do one of two things, really, corner solutions.
29:55He could relaunch strikes along with Israel against Iran.
30:01That's been in preparation.
30:02He has the assets in place to do it.
30:04Or at the other extreme,
30:06he could declare victory and bring everybody home.
30:09Or he could do something in between.
30:11And he just, he has not thought this through.
30:13That's not what he does.
30:15I think he'll have to be assessing a lot of things
30:18in the next few days.
30:20And so I don't feel it would make sense
30:24to try and make a prediction,
30:25in large part because my high level of confidence
30:28that Trump himself doesn't know
30:29what he's going to do at this point.
30:34But I still want to push you.
30:36What's more likely?
30:37As someone who's known Donald Trump well,
30:39what's more likely,
30:40given the fact that he hasn't ruled out,
30:43he says,
30:43the possibility of targeting Iran's nuclear facilities,
30:47and therefore there is a sense that,
30:50who knows,
30:50push to the wall,
30:52do you believe Donald Trump could actually do that?
30:54Or would he now be a little bit more cautious in your view?
30:59Well,
31:00Donald Trump at his foundation
31:02is somebody who makes deals.
31:04He thinks everybody makes deals on everything.
31:06Everybody wants to make a deal with Donald Trump.
31:09He'll say sometime today or tomorrow,
31:11the Iranians are dying to make a deal with us.
31:13So he'll look for the deal.
31:15The question is whether there's one there
31:17that achieves,
31:19what I do think is an objective
31:20he has stated repeatedly for 10 years,
31:22he doesn't want Iran to get nuclear weapons,
31:25whether there's a deal
31:26that might actually achieve that
31:27or that at least doesn't risk
31:29making him look like a fool.
31:31I don't think that's possible
31:32because I don't think the Iranian government
31:34at this moment is coherent enough
31:36to agree on a deal
31:37that would be sustainable
31:39over a long period of time.
31:41And that might then lead Trump
31:43to resort to force,
31:45perhaps attacking nuclear facilities
31:48at a place called Pickaxe Mountain,
31:50a relatively new operation
31:52near the Natanz enrichment facilities.
31:55He could attack that,
31:57again, declare victory
31:58and say we've won this war
32:00and we're going home.
32:02It's very hard to tell what he's going to do.
32:05I'm not sure we're necessarily finished
32:07with the election.
32:08I might just add,
32:09Trump has been uncharacteristically mild
32:12in his response
32:14to this serious political setback.
32:18Maybe that will continue
32:19or maybe today as he wakes up
32:21and really realizes how bad it is,
32:23there may be yet more discussion
32:25on the results of the election.
32:26We'll just have to see.
32:31The reason I'm asking you this
32:33is there's a sense
32:34that Trumpian unilateralism
32:37has become hugely disrupted
32:40to the world.
32:41I'm looking at it here
32:42from an Indian perspective,
32:43the manner in which Trump has,
32:45from time to time,
32:46imposed tariffs on this country.
32:48Are we going to see a pullback
32:50from that kind of unilateralism?
32:52Or do you believe,
32:53as you keep reiterating,
32:54that Donald Trump is so unpredictable
32:56that he could do anything,
32:58even after an overwhelming
33:00election defeat like this?
33:02Do you believe that Donald Trump
33:04will have learned his lessons?
33:07No, that I'm pretty confident about.
33:09He actually said last night,
33:11as the results were still coming in,
33:12look, if I had been on the ballot,
33:14we would have done much better.
33:15If actually his name had been on there,
33:17he would have done much worse.
33:19So he still really has not internalized
33:22that the negative response
33:25to this election
33:25is directed against him.
33:27I don't think it's so much unilateralism
33:30in the international sense.
33:31It's just Donald Trump wakes up,
33:33decides on something,
33:35decides he's going to do it,
33:36and doesn't feel
33:37that he needs to consult anybody else.
33:39It's certainly the case on tariffs,
33:41which I think harm the American economy
33:43as much or more
33:44than some of the targets of the tariffs.
33:47I think it's mutually disadvantageous
33:50to both sides in a tariff war.
33:52But I don't think
33:53that's the kind of lesson he will learn.
33:55The real issue is whether
33:56he is overwhelmed
33:59in terms of time and attention
34:01by the kinds of investigations
34:03that Democrats in Congress
34:05now in control of the committees
34:07and therefore the investigative machinery
34:09plan to launch against him
34:11on a whole range of issues,
34:13particularly allegations of corruption,
34:15self-dealing, self-enrichment,
34:17that sort of thing.
34:19The amount of political energy
34:21and just his own personal time
34:23that may be involved in that
34:24could well distract him
34:26from foreign policy across the board.
34:32So do you see Donald Trump
34:35in that sense, Ambassador Bolton,
34:37becoming a bit of a lame duck president?
34:39Or is that a self-image
34:41that Donald Trump
34:42simply cannot reconcile himself to,
34:45that Donald Trump
34:46is now a lame duck president?
34:49Will he ever be able
34:50to conceptualize
34:53what that means at all?
34:55Or is he way too narcissistic
34:57to accept that?
34:59Yeah, he won't accept that for sure,
35:01but others will see him correctly
35:03as a lame duck president.
35:05And one of the key indicators
35:07we'll see here in the next month
35:08when Congress comes back
35:10for a lame duck session
35:11before the new Congress
35:12is sworn in in January,
35:15where the remaining Republicans
35:17in the House
35:17who still have jobs,
35:19we're going to lose 50 seats or more,
35:21it looks like,
35:21according to the latest projections.
35:24They're going to have to decide
35:26whether they're going to look out
35:27for their own political futures
35:28in two years or Donald Trump's.
35:30I don't think there's much doubt
35:31where they're going to go.
35:33So Trump will be a lame duck president,
35:35whether he admits it or not.
35:36That will constrain him.
35:37That doesn't mean it will necessarily
35:39make him more predictable
35:40or more rational.
35:42It may have the opposite of him.
35:49Okay, let's move on then
35:50on this big U.S. verdict
35:52to another special guest.
35:54My big questions again,
35:56what's the message
35:56from this United States verdict?
35:59And what is the message in particular
36:01for India and the world?
36:04Who better to answer that
36:05than the Congress multiple times,
36:08Lok Sabha MP
36:09and the chairperson
36:10of the Standing Committee
36:11on External Affairs?
36:12Dr. Shashi Tharoor joins me.
36:14Good to have you, Dr. Tharoor,
36:16on the show
36:16on what is a pretty landmark verdict
36:19that the United States voter
36:21has thrown up.
36:22Your first reactions.
36:23How do you see
36:24what has happened to Donald Trump?
36:27Well, Radeep,
36:28it's anti-incumbency writ large.
36:30It's an extraordinary repudiation
36:32of President Trump
36:34and the party that has been remade
36:36in his name.
36:37And there's absolutely no doubt
36:38that the results
36:39have been far, far more spectacular
36:42than even my friends
36:43in the Democratic Party
36:44might have expected.
36:45They have won a number of seats
36:48that they hoped to win,
36:50but even some seats
36:51they didn't think
36:52they would actually be able
36:54to hope to win.
36:55It is unbelievable, for example,
36:57that Texas has completely
36:58flipped Democratic,
37:00that the senator elected
37:01is somebody who actively campaigned
37:05amongst the Indian-American community
37:06making dosas.
37:08And then you've got a governor
37:09who has actually come to power
37:12for the first time
37:13in decades in Texas
37:14for the Democratic Party.
37:16So right across the board,
37:18people are saying
37:19they're sick of what Trump
37:21and the Republicans
37:22have done to their country.
37:23I think that's a very,
37:24very clear message.
37:25Having said that,
37:27midterm elections
37:28are always historically in America
37:30a time for course correction.
37:32So the fact that there was a loss
37:34for Trump and the Republicans
37:36is not surprising.
37:38What is surprising
37:39is the scale and extent
37:41and degree of that loss.
37:43That's been significant.
37:45Now, for India,
37:46what are the implications?
37:47In foreign policy, not much,
37:49because as Trump and presidents
37:52before him have demonstrated,
37:53they have an extraordinary amount
37:55of leeway on foreign policy
37:56that is not easy
37:58for an opposition in Congress
38:00to circumscribe.
38:01So Trump can continue
38:03to do what he's been doing
38:04vis-à-vis India,
38:06vis-à-vis the Iran war,
38:07vis-à-vis Israel,
38:08vis-à-vis Ukraine,
38:09pretty much as he wishes.
38:11And there won't be very many ways
38:13in which Congress,
38:14either the majority
38:15of the Democrats in the House
38:17or in the Senate,
38:18can tie his hands.
38:20The one thing they can do
38:21is to pass legislation
38:24restricting the amount
38:25of resources available to him
38:27to pursue military adventures.
38:30But purely policy things
38:31that don't require
38:32a whole lot of congressional funding,
38:34I don't think they can do very much.
38:35So we will still be dealing
38:37with a Trump foreign policy
38:39for the next two years
38:40and dealing with the Trump administration
38:42for the next two years.
38:43And on that,
38:44we should have no doubts.
38:46Yes, there will be other voices
38:47in the Houses of Congress.
38:49The chairmanships of the committees,
38:52for example,
38:52will automatically go
38:54to the majority party
38:56and we will have new voices
38:57and faces
38:58that deal with our country
39:00and that may have things to say.
39:02But I don't think
39:03it will substantively impact
39:05upon any of our current dealings
39:09with the administration,
39:10nor will Congress have much to say
39:12on either the terms of trade,
39:14of the FTA we're negotiating,
39:17of tariffs,
39:18or indeed of any other decisions
39:22the administration may make.
39:25Can I just stop?
39:28You know, you said it may have no effect,
39:30for example,
39:31on a potential bilateral trade deal.
39:34You don't therefore subscribe
39:35to the view that
39:36a weakened Donald Trump
39:38could mean an advantage
39:40to India on the negotiating table
39:42when it comes to the trade deal.
39:43Am I correct?
39:44No, I don't think it's going to make
39:46any particular advantage to India
39:48because, to begin with,
39:50much of the trade deal
39:51has already been agreed.
39:52I think the remaining concerns
39:54we have, Rajdeep,
39:55are very simple.
39:56There's, first of all,
39:57the fact that we worry about
39:58if you conclude a deal
40:00and then Mr. Trump
40:01exercises his powers
40:02under the Graham Act,
40:04which has already been passed,
40:05to levy up to 100% sanctions on us,
40:09that finishes any benefit
40:10of the trade deal
40:11because, obviously,
40:13if you've got 100% sanctions on you,
40:15you've completely knocked out
40:16of the American market.
40:17It's as simple as that.
40:18And that's something
40:19that they can still use against us.
40:21The second thing
40:22that we are worried about,
40:23I think,
40:23is that if we do conclude
40:25a good trade deal,
40:26and tomorrow they conclude
40:27with one of our competitors
40:29or rivals
40:30or people selling
40:31the same sort of products as us,
40:32a deal that is more advantageous
40:34to the other side,
40:35how do we come back
40:36onto most-favored-nation status?
40:38So we're trying, I believe,
40:40to try and find some language
40:41that will give us protection
40:43against these two eventualities.
40:45We're not at the stage
40:47of negotiating
40:47whether we buy more
40:49American farm goods
40:50or they buy more
40:51Indian pharmaceuticals.
40:52That sort of stuff,
40:53all that fine print,
40:54I understand.
40:55All those I's have been dotted
40:57and those T's
40:57have been crossed already.
41:02The other issue,
41:04of course,
41:04would be Pakistan.
41:05As you've seen
41:05in recent times,
41:07Dr. Tharoor,
41:08America seems to have struck
41:09a very special relationship
41:10with Pakistan,
41:12possibly because of
41:12the location of Pakistan
41:14in the context
41:15of the war in Iran.
41:16Do you see any of that changing?
41:18Do you see a more
41:19pragmatic,
41:20rational Donald Trump
41:22in dealings with India
41:23and this part of the world
41:24or not?
41:26No, because I think
41:27Mr. Trump's
41:28personal inclinations
41:29towards Pakistan
41:30have nothing to do
41:31with the U.S. Congress either.
41:33The fact that
41:34his sons
41:35and the son of Mr. Witkoff
41:36are involved
41:37in a major
41:38cryptocurrency deal
41:39with Pakistan.
41:40The fact that
41:41Mr. Trump
41:41has openly declared
41:44Asim Munir
41:44to be his
41:45quote,
41:46favorite field marshal.
41:47The fact that
41:48he has
41:50been gratified
41:51by the way
41:51in which
41:52Abbas Sharif
41:52and the Pakistanis
41:53have rather
41:54unctuously
41:55nominated him
41:56repeatedly
41:57for a Nobel Peace Prize
41:58and keep
41:59praising his
42:01peacemaking abilities
42:02in the subcontinent.
42:03All of these things,
42:04to be very honest,
42:05are what are
42:06motivating Mr. Trump.
42:07They've got nothing
42:07to do with
42:08any results
42:09in the U.S. Congress.
42:10They have to do
42:11with his personal
42:12predilections.
42:13And the fact that
42:14Pakistan
42:15has been
42:16a state
42:16that the U.S.
42:19has very many
42:19reasons
42:20to be suspicious of,
42:22including the fact
42:23that it was a country
42:24that for years
42:24said they had no idea
42:25where Osama bin Laden
42:26was until he was
42:28found in a safe house
42:29near an army camp
42:31in a cantonment city
42:33in the heart
42:33of Pakistan.
42:34And, you know,
42:35how can you possibly
42:37trust a country
42:37like that,
42:38especially a military
42:39like that,
42:40is a question
42:41that any American
42:42would be normally
42:43inclined to ask,
42:44but Mr. Trump
42:45apparently has
42:46stopped asking it.
42:47So it's going to be
42:47very difficult for us
42:48to sit and say
42:50that this election result
42:51is going to change
42:51any of those considerations.
42:53Let's be very realistic
42:54about that.
42:58Okay.
42:59Let's therefore come to
43:00something you said
43:01at the very outset,
43:02which is that this election
43:03for you is a repudiation
43:05of Trump,
43:05but also a sign
43:06of anti-incumbency.
43:08And there are those
43:08who are saying,
43:09I've been hearing
43:11this today,
43:12well, it's happened
43:12to Donald Trump today,
43:13it could happen
43:14to Prime Minister Modi,
43:15at least that's what
43:15the opposition
43:16is tweeting,
43:17that it could happen
43:18to Prime Minister Modi
43:19after 15 years.
43:20Would you accept
43:21that far more difficult
43:22for you and the opposition
43:24here than it was
43:25for the Democrats
43:26in the United States
43:27where they focused
43:28on cost of living,
43:29on livelihood issues
43:31to, in a way,
43:33expose the Trump
43:34administration's promises?
43:35Or do you believe
43:36anti-incumbency
43:37is now a global phenomenon?
43:39In the last few weeks,
43:40we've seen several strongmen
43:41being defeated
43:42from Serbia
43:43to the United States.
43:45So, Radhi,
43:46there are a number
43:46of factors in your question.
43:48First, yes,
43:48anti-incumbency
43:49is an important consideration.
43:51It has always been
43:52a consideration
43:53in Indian politics.
43:54Nothing new about that.
43:56And because India
43:57has so many different elections
43:59at different times
44:00in different states
44:01and so on,
44:02there are repeated opportunities
44:04to let steam out
44:05of the pressure cooker.
44:06And I would argue
44:07that, therefore,
44:08the anti-incumbency
44:09can manifest itself sooner
44:11in terms of state elections
44:13as well as later
44:14in terms of the
44:162029 general elections.
44:17However,
44:18I accept entirely
44:19that every country
44:20is different.
44:21Circumstances are different.
44:23Considerations are different.
44:24The average American voter
44:26is more affluent
44:28than the average Indian voter
44:29and is influenced
44:31by having to pay
44:31more of the petrol pump
44:33or the gas station,
44:33as they would say,
44:34in America,
44:35or more of the supermarket.
44:36And all of those
44:38inflationary pressures
44:39that have come
44:40as a result
44:40of Trump tariffs
44:42and Trump's Iran war
44:43have certainly
44:45come back to hurt him.
44:46We don't have any
44:47specific decisions
44:49Mr. Modi has taken
44:50since the disaster
44:52of demonetization
44:53that have directly
44:54affected Indians.
44:55Nonetheless,
44:57Indians are facing
44:58an increased cost
44:59of living
45:00at the bazaar, Rajdeep.
45:02Your food items
45:03are costing more
45:04than they used to cost,
45:05and our salaries
45:06are not going up.
45:07Indians are facing
45:08the unusual phenomenon
45:09of not just unemployment
45:11at an extremely high level,
45:13but the world record level
45:15of unemployment
45:15for college graduates.
45:17No other country
45:18has a larger percent
45:19of college graduates
45:20unable to find jobs.
45:21So these are
45:22serious considerations
45:23that every Indian voter
45:25will bear in mind,
45:26and you've seen
45:27some of the frustrations
45:28out there
45:28in the course
45:29of this summer
45:30of discontent
45:31that manifested itself
45:33in various protests
45:34around the country.
45:35Finally,
45:36there is a genuine concern
45:38about misuse of authority,
45:39which has manifested itself
45:41in the malfeasance
45:43of the Election Commission
45:44in striking 130 million
45:46people off the rolls.
45:47Now, I know they're undoing
45:48some of that damage,
45:49and, for example,
45:50in Delhi,
45:50they've announced
45:51that people who earlier
45:53were told they were
45:53being struck off the rolls
45:54will remain on the rolls
45:55and they can clarify
45:56their position,
45:57but that's just
45:58covering up their tracks.
45:59They have made
46:00irresponsibly negative decisions,
46:02which a lot of people
46:03are very upset about.
46:04All of this will translate
46:06into a degree
46:07of anti-incumbency.
46:08I have met people
46:10who have told me
46:10their family voted BJP
46:11in the last three elections,
46:13and they are planning
46:14to vote against this time,
46:15against the BJP,
46:17including some who said
46:18that because their names
46:19were struck off
46:20the electoral rolls
46:21for no reason.
46:22So you've got all
46:23of these things happening
46:24in our country,
46:24and I think that
46:25you shouldn't discount
46:26the fact that
46:27even if the circumstances
46:29are not identical
46:30to America's,
46:31we have our own reasons
46:32for voting this particular
46:33government out of office.
46:38So, therefore,
46:39let me ask you
46:39in conclusion,
46:40what can the Indian
46:41opposition learn
46:42from what the Democrats
46:44did so successfully
46:45in this election?
46:46Is there something
46:46that all of you
46:47could learn
46:48if there is this
46:49anti-incumbency,
46:50as you're saying,
46:50that exists even in India?
46:52What could y'all learn?
46:53What could y'all do differently
46:54if y'all want to challenge
46:56a government
46:57that's been in power
46:57in 15 years?
46:58Anti-incumbency in the US
46:59seems to have said
47:01two years into
47:01Donald Trump 2.0.
47:03Correct.
47:04So it seems to me
47:05that we will also
47:06have to ask people
47:07very bluntly,
47:08are you better off
47:09than you used to be?
47:11Are you better off
47:12under this particular
47:13government
47:15than you used to be?
47:16And that includes
47:17everything from
47:18unemployment
47:19to better educational
47:20opportunities
47:21to a functioning
47:22examination system
47:23to questions
47:24of inflation
47:25and costs.
47:25We have to now
47:26relate this
47:27to ordinary people's lives.
47:29Secondly,
47:31you've heard
47:32the same rhetoric
47:33for 15 years.
47:34Do you still believe
47:36this government
47:36has any answers?
47:38Because they've been
47:39promising you
47:39and the mirage
47:40keeps receding.
47:42They've been promising
47:43you lots and lots
47:44of good signs
47:45of development
47:45and progress.
47:46And even if they claim
47:48there is 7% growth,
47:49how has it affected
47:50your life?
47:51Where are you seeing
47:51the benefit
47:52of that 7% growth?
47:53Have you got a better job?
47:55Have you got a higher salary?
47:56Have you got more
47:57affordable goods
47:57in your home?
47:59What have you gained
48:00from these people
48:01being able to pat
48:02themselves on the back
48:03and say 7% growth?
48:05These are the kinds
48:05of questions
48:06the ordinary Indian voter
48:08will have to ask themselves.
48:09And frankly,
48:10most Indian voters
48:11do not have a whole lot
48:12of good news
48:13to celebrate, Rajdeep.
48:15They have no good reasons
48:16to vote for this government again.
48:23Well, the opposition
48:25will also then have
48:26to take the opportunity
48:27as the Democrats
48:28certainly did in America.
48:29But in conclusion,
48:30you know,
48:30just very quickly,
48:31contextualize
48:32what this means
48:33for American democracy.
48:35You know,
48:35you saw someone
48:36like Abu Saeed
48:37winning this election
48:38in Michigan as a senator.
48:39You're seeing people
48:41of diverse backgrounds
48:42who have won elections
48:43this time, big time.
48:44What does it say
48:45about American democracy
48:47that you've tracked
48:48for so, so many years?
48:50I think it's a great tribute
48:51to the absolute vibrancy
48:53of American democracy, Rajdeep.
48:55I must say,
48:57I thought that
48:57El-Sayed actually
48:59winning that election
49:01was an extraordinary
49:02tribute to Americans
49:03because, you know,
49:03he had a tough primary,
49:06which he won,
49:07and he won more narrowly
49:08than the polls
49:09suggested he would win.
49:10And when he thanked Allah
49:12for having won that race,
49:13there were a lot of people
49:15who said,
49:15this is exactly
49:16the wrong kind of language,
49:17et cetera.
49:18The Democrats
49:19are going to regret
49:19having helped him
49:21win his primary.
49:22And when the counting began,
49:24he was actually quite narrow,
49:25quite close for some time.
49:27But he's now won
49:28by a very convincing margin,
49:2953 to 47.
49:31It's not a small win.
49:33It's a good, convincing win.
49:34And that shows
49:35that Americans
49:36are prepared to look
49:37beyond their visceral suspicion
49:40of people with foreign-sounding names,
49:42religions.
49:43He's the first Muslim senator
49:45ever elected.
49:46And from India's point of view,
49:48of course,
49:49somebody who knows India well,
49:50who's come to South India a lot,
49:51has a South Indian wife.
49:54That's not something
49:55that we should be unhappy about.
49:56He could well be a voice
49:57we could speak to
49:58and reach out to
49:59in the U.S. Senate.
50:01And, you know,
50:02we've had some good people.
50:03Ami Bera,
50:04who's been re-elected yet again,
50:05the longest-serving
50:06Indian-American congressman,
50:08I think has a very good chance
50:09of chairing the committee,
50:11the subcommittee,
50:11a bigger part,
50:12in dealing with South Asia.
50:13I think we've got
50:14some very influential
50:17Indian-American voices
50:18in various key places.
50:20And obviously,
50:21for us,
50:22in an American system
50:23that is so vibrant,
50:25we want voices
50:26that will also take
50:27a friendly look
50:29at India's concerns.
50:30Now,
50:31it doesn't mean
50:31that we can influence
50:32the fundamental decisions
50:34which will be made
50:35by the administration.
50:36Let's not get it wrong.
50:38Congress is influential,
50:40but Congress is not decisive.
50:42If tomorrow
50:43there is an ambassador
50:44to be confirmed,
50:45a Democratic majority
50:46in the Senate
50:47could give Mr. Trump
50:48a rough time.
50:50But short of that,
50:51there's not a whole lot
50:52of congressional influence
50:53on foreign policy issues.
50:55And I think we should continue
50:56working as best we can
50:58with Mr. Trump,
51:00with his appointees,
51:01and, frankly,
51:03with the kind of considerations,
51:05which are very transactional ones,
51:07that have come to dominate
51:09the Indo-U.S. relationship.
51:10But the relationship
51:11still is important to us,
51:13very important to us,
51:15and I don't think, frankly,
51:16we have much say
51:17in what comes out
51:18at us from Washington,
51:20and the election
51:21is not going to change
51:22that very much.
51:26Well,
51:27it clearly wasn't a day
51:28of apki bar Trump,
51:29sarkar,
51:31Mr. Tharoor,
51:31but as a wordsmith,
51:33is there a word
51:33that you want to use
51:34to describe a day like this?
51:36What would be
51:36your favorite word
51:37to describe what's happened
51:39in the United States today?
51:40Think about it.
51:41From the Republicans'
51:42point of view,
51:43it was pretty cataclysmic.
51:45Rajdeep,
51:46from the Democrats'
51:47point of view,
51:47it was exhilarating.
51:49And I think
51:49from India's point of view,
51:51we watched
51:52sort of turbulence
51:53in action.
51:53That's about all
51:54I could suggest
51:55for words.
51:59Okay.
52:00Okay.
52:01Cataclysmic
52:01versus exhilarating.
52:03That's been
52:04the nature of day,
52:05depending on which side
52:05of the divide you are.
52:06Shashi Tharoor,
52:07always good to have you
52:08on the show.
52:09Thank you very much
52:09for joining me here
52:11on our special show today.
52:13Thank you, Rajdeep.
52:14Good night.
52:16Okay.
52:17We've heard a variety
52:18of voices here
52:19on this special show
52:20on news today.
52:21It's time
52:21for my take.
52:23The American voter
52:25has delivered
52:26a stunning rebuke
52:27to Donald Trump
52:282.0
52:29and an unimaginable
52:31victory
52:31to the Democrats.
52:33The message
52:34is unmistakable today.
52:36Enough
52:37of the warmongering,
52:38the name-calling,
52:39and the politics
52:40of disruption.
52:42Two years ago,
52:43Donald Trump
52:44promised Americans
52:45a better deal.
52:47More jobs,
52:48higher wages,
52:50and above all,
52:51a lower cost of living.
52:53Instead,
52:54his presidency
52:55has increasingly
52:56appeared more
52:57preoccupied
52:58with geopolitical
52:59grandstanding
53:00than the everyday
53:01anxieties
53:02of ordinary Americans.
53:04High petrol prices
53:06almost became
53:07a secondary concern
53:09when weighed
53:09against Trump's
53:10strategic ambitions,
53:12an escalating
53:13confrontation
53:14with Iran
53:15and self-defeating
53:16tariff wars.
53:17Add to that
53:19the serious
53:19allegations
53:20of corruption
53:21in high places
53:22and the disconnect
53:23between promise
53:24and performance
53:25becomes even
53:26harder to ignore.
53:28The larger message
53:30should though
53:30resonate
53:31well beyond America.
53:33For Trump
53:34and other
53:34populist
53:35nationalist leaders
53:36across the world,
53:37this is a reminder
53:38that the politics
53:40of theatrics
53:41or personality
53:42cults
53:42manufactured enemies
53:44cannot indefinitely
53:46substitute
53:46for jobs
53:47incomes
53:48and yes
53:49food on the table.
53:51Voters may be
53:52dazzled by
53:53strongman politics
53:54for a while
53:54but they ultimately
53:56want their lives
53:57to get bigger
53:58or better
53:59not just
54:00their leaders
54:01egos
54:02to get bigger.
54:04Trump has
54:04two years
54:05to course correct
54:06otherwise
54:07he risks
54:08spending
54:08the rest
54:09of his presidency
54:11as a lame duck
54:12president
54:12remembered sadly
54:14as a leader
54:15who mistook
54:16personal power
54:17for public
54:18purpose.
54:20Think about that.
54:22Okay from my take
54:23just about enough
54:24time to leave you
54:25with our image
54:26of the day
54:27a day when
54:27a slice of history
54:29in many ways
54:29has been created
54:30in the United States.
54:32The Democrats
54:33scoring a twin victory
54:34in Texas
54:35after decades
54:36where Elon Musk
54:38the world's richest man
54:39spent over
54:40200 million dollars
54:42in support of the Republicans
54:43and guess what
54:44James Tallarico
54:46won the Senate seat
54:47and Gina Hinojosa
54:49became the first
54:50Hispanic governor
54:51of the state.
54:52After the win
54:53the two Democrat
54:54leaders celebrated
54:55in true American style
54:57with
54:58a burger joint
55:00having a burger
55:01at a burger joint.
55:02The other big winner
55:03Abdul El Saeed
55:05becoming the first
55:06Muslim American
55:07to enter the Senate
55:08his wife Sarah
55:09is an American
55:11of Indian origin.
55:13Truly
55:13we've seen
55:14the diverse colors
55:15of America
55:16play themselves out
55:18in a remarkable
55:19manner today.
55:21As far as
55:21Donald Trump
55:22is concerned
55:23sorry sir
55:24he scored
55:25a duck today.
55:28Donald Duck.
55:29Thanks for watching.
55:30Stay well
55:31stay safe
55:32good night
55:32Shubratri
55:33Jai Hind
55:34Namaskar