00:00It's a kind of mixed messaging there from Donald Trump, where on one hand, he says that, look, this wouldn't
00:05have been the result if I was involved.
00:07And the other, he says, yes, we're willing to accept this result and work with the Democrats.
00:11Let me bring in Gaurav Sawant on this broadcast, who's been tracking the results from early this morning as they
00:16trickled in from the projections to now the result,
00:19saying very clearly, Gaurav, that America currently, at least, is bleeding blue.
00:24What do you think is the biggest reason behind this kind of a mandate from America?
00:30Prices, rising fuel prices, and because of those rising diesel prices, everything, prices of everything shot up.
00:38And the common man in America was feeling the pinch.
00:41And President Trump appeared so far detached from the pain of the common person on ground, he was more busy
00:48talking about his ballroom.
00:50So there was this rich corporate America and the common man of America.
00:55And the divide was too wide to bridge.
00:59Prices, then the war in Iran, hugely unpopular, again, a cause for massive prices.
01:05And look at the ground reality.
01:07You know, when you were talking about this blunami, that blue tsunami that swept across ruby red states.
01:13North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Maine, Kansas, Iowa.
01:18I mean, these are states that just turned blue.
01:22Even the Democrats didn't expect such a tsunami in their favor.
01:27They knew they were doing much better.
01:28They campaigned very hard.
01:30They found the pulse of the people.
01:32You know, the kind of activities of ICE in sending people out, dividing the country.
01:38America has risen against it.
01:40Gaurav, I think one of the questions that will be asked now is what is the geopolitical impact here, particularly
01:46on the war?
01:47Look, Trump is still the executive.
01:49Nothing changes on that front.
01:51But with the Democrats controlling the House, controlling the Senate, will we see a change in the strategy on war?
01:58So, this war is hugely unpopular.
02:01President Trump can either double down, go in for a short, sharp strike, as he has indicated he may, whether
02:08he's using this as pressure tactics, getting Iran to come and negotiate.
02:13Look, America was hoping for a regime change in Iran.
02:17There seems to have been a regime change of sorts in the United States of America.
02:21And President Trump won't be very happy about this.
02:23But you're absolutely right.
02:24He controls the foreign policy.
02:26He has all the power, except, of course, if he wants to wage a longer war, he needs money.
02:31And for money, he'll have to go to the Congress.
02:33And it's unlikely that, you know, they will support him on an unnecessary war, on an unjust war.
02:41Because that main question on the 20th of February, why did you bomb Iran when Iran was willing to sign
02:46the dotted line virtually everywhere,
02:48is a question that will once again be asked of President Donald Trump right now.
02:53So, will he double down and go in for a short, sharp strike?
02:55There are some, you know, fear mongers in the United States who say that he may go in for a
03:01tactical nuclear strike.
03:03Now, God forbid, it appears very unlikely that he should do something like that.
03:07But it remains to be seen whether he's in a position to get Iran to the talks table, negotiate an
03:15honorable exit.
03:16If not, then we may see a short, sharp war in West Asia.
03:21But I'm sure Trump recognizes, Gaurav, that this is a mandate against his decision for war.
03:26That will play out.
03:27And the point that you made about funds, in which case then it's not going to be easy for him
03:31to move this war any forward or get more aggressive.
03:34He cannot afford to get more aggressive.
03:36You're absolutely right.
03:37It's very, very unpopular in the United States of America because they're asking, why are we fighting this war?
03:44It's not our war.
03:45Point one.
03:46Point two.
03:46Iran was willing to talk to the United States that Democrats are doubling down, that they had managed to get
03:54Iran to the talks table, sign the dotted line, agree on the nuke aspect.
04:00They only had to take it forward.
04:02They had to negotiate better.
04:03Donald Trump actually used a sledgehammer and that appears to have boomerang on him.
04:09Election results do indicate that.
04:11But, you know, President Trump has been rather unpredictable.
04:15Look at the India policy.
04:18Now, America and India had a very warm relationship for over 25 years post the 1999 Cargill War.
04:26You know, we've reported the next step in strategic partnership after the post-Pokaran sanctions.
04:31And then the relationship was on an uphill trajectory until Donald Trump in his second tenure, you know, seems to
04:39have been like a bull in a China shop on a very important strategic partnership.
04:43Can it still be revived?
04:45Yes, it can.
04:46But the trust factor has certainly taken a big hit.
04:49You know, you make that mention of the India-America story also, Gaurav.
04:54There's an interesting story also in the way Indian-Americans have performed in this particular midterm.
05:00They were representatives from the Indian-American community for both Democrats and Republicans.
05:05And it's a very different story of how they have performed.
05:08So let's focus on that for a moment.
05:10We're calling it the revenge of Indian-Americans.
05:13There are several of them who've done exceedingly well.
05:16We put all those names on your screens there.
05:18You have Pia Dandia.
05:20Everyone's, of course, been talking about her, her story.
05:22As a Democrat, she's won Florida's 22nd district.
05:25That means she's the first Indian-American elected to Florida's House delegation, which is huge.
05:32Pia Dandia is now a woman everyone's watching out for.
05:36So Haas Subramaniam is someone you've heard of before because he's been re-elected now as a Democrat from Virginia's
05:4110th district.
05:42Then you have Aruna Miller, again, a known face.
05:46She's been re-elected as Maryland's left-hand governor.
05:49Again, a Democrat, clearly blue.
05:52Pramila Jayapal, Democrat, has retained Washington's 7th district.
05:55Not really surprising.
05:57Washington, a blue state.
05:58That's why 87% of the votes there going for Pramila Jayapal.
06:01Roh Khanna, very vocal, speaks about Indian-American rights, speaks about Hindu rights in America.
06:07As a Democrat has been re-elected from California's 17th district.
06:10Ami Bera, in California's 3rd district, is leading with 60%.
06:15We're expecting that that will essentially solidify into a win.
06:20And then you have Amisha, another Democrat.
06:23Arizona's 1st district with 55% of the votes.
06:27So far, that number also expected to go up.
06:30Contrast that with the Indian-American face for the Republicans.
06:33I'm referring to Vivek Ramaswamy, who lost.
06:36Listen in to what Vivek Ramaswamy said.
06:38Handpicked by Trump, and yet lost.
06:42Tough and challenging night for Republicans across the country.
06:46And it is a tough night for us here in Ohio.
06:50It was a tough race.
06:52It was bitter at times in both directions.
06:56I would be incomplete if I didn't tell you that I have some serious concerns about the future direction of
07:04our country.
07:07There's no avoiding that.
07:10But I do believe that there have been many ups and downs in our country's history, but we have, in
07:15the end, still found our way upward.
07:18And I have confidence that sometimes these things happen for a reason.
07:25Okay, so you heard there from Vivek Ramaswamy, but Gaurav, what do you make of the manner in which Indian
07:32-Americans have voted, the manner in which they've been represented?
07:35You know, it's interesting that Indian-Americans have actually had a big say in this election, because most campaign managers
07:40are also from this community.
07:43So, you know, in a way, they've gone back to the roots.
07:46That's a very interesting line that you had, revenge of the Indian-Americans.
07:50The manner in which, look, they've contributed immensely to the America story, to the U.S. story.
07:57Very positive, highly educated.
08:00They follow the law of the land.
08:02They contribute positively to every society.
08:04But the manner in which they were ill-treated, the rise in hate crimes against Hindus, in particular Indian-Americans
08:12in general, this has been rather unfortunate in the United States of America.
08:17And President Trump's team did precious little to arrest it.
08:21They may have made some of the right noises, but clearly they didn't.
08:25Now, for Indian-Americans who moved from Democrats to Republicans, it was a trust that was betrayed, and they came
08:30back to the Democrats.
08:32And this is where, you know, all those issues, whether it's with Indian-Americans, with jobs, with H-1B visas,
08:39with education, there was so much uncertainty under the Trump administration that they thought at least there's far more predictability
08:45with the Democrats.
08:47Whether that predictability remains, we will have to wait and watch.
08:52But it's not just Indian-Americans, but it's the expat community from across the world who seem to have gravitated
08:59more towards the Democrats.
09:01Do you think that this will trigger a rethink of sorts by Team Trump?
09:05Well, one would sincerely hope so, that better sense would prevail, because this is a relationship that India and America
09:11have both invested in very deeply over the past, you know, 25, 26 years.
09:17And President Trump, you know, with a sledgehammer blow, with his tariffs, the imposition of the 25% tariffs of
09:24India, completely uncalled for.
09:26Then putting punitive tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, when India was doing it to stabilize global economy, you
09:32know, that was completely uncalled for.
09:34The kind of remarks, uncalled for remarks on Pakistan, his support for Pakistan at a time with, you know, Pakistan
09:41is a state sponsor of terror, responsible for deaths of American citizens.
09:45And yet, President Trump in his second tenure was so different from Trump in his first tenure.
09:49Was it because of family interests and business interests, which the Democrats now say they will investigate?
09:54So, it remains to be seen whether, you know, the administration would be, would try and bring the relationship back
10:01on an even keel.
10:02But India, you know, some would say, yes, we are keen on a deal with America because it's in India's
10:07interest.
10:08However, India would rather not have a deal than have a bad deal.
10:12You know, on the issue of how he's handled India, tariffs and so many other aspects, he's been rather aggressive
10:18in the last two years.
10:20With this result, there is a possibility that he'll kind of soften down now on some of those issues.
10:26Because it's not just now the Republicans taking all the calls.
10:28The Democrats have a big, big say.
10:31Thanks very much, Gaurav, for joining us on this broadcast with your perspective, your analysis of this midterm result.
