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namaskar hello and welcome to P gurus
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Channel I'm your host Shri joining me
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today is utso chakrabarti as we take a
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closer look at how Indian Americans
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voted in the recently concluded us
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elections to know all that and more
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let's welcome utsav chakrabarti but
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before that please like this video and
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if you have not subscribed to our
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Channel go subscribe to our Channel
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Namar
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Namaste I'm doing
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good so um this this is a game that I
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play with every every gu make sure that
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they are on their toes switch languages
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on them and see how they respond it just
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gives a little bit of banter and fun so
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G I requested you to put together like a
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five point uh uh summary of how the
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indian-americans voted people say it's
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between four to 4.6 million
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indian-americans who can vote in US
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elections and about 50% typically vote
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so let's say around number of two
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million people voted actually voted so
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I'm going to let you talk to your slide
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de that you brilliantly put together and
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then we can take it from there so I'm
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just bringing it up now here we go over
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to
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you so sh something that is very
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interesting in this election is that
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there is already a lot of conversation
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going on about the shift in the
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indian-american or as I would call it
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American Hindu vote because most of them
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are American citizens uh all of them are
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American citizens if they voted and and
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how the votes made a difference and uh I
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think there has been been a major shift
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it could be as high as 12% or so in
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across the country in terms of the
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people who voted who shifted towards
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Trump and what is interesting is that
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not only has that made difference big
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difference in the Battleground States
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you know the states that flipped pretty
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much all all over to the Trump side but
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even in places like California uh New
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York New Jersey uh Maryland places which
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otherwise are blue States but have
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significant Indian American or American
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Hindu communities in them there was a
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big shift in the number of votes pulled
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towards the Republicans so all in all uh
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I do believe that the the shift in the
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vote from the indian-american side made
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a huge difference in favor of the
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Republicans uh and a lot of people
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including many
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Democrats are in disbelief first because
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they never believed that this could
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happen to this level there was a small
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shift happening many people knew that
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but this degree of shift they never
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expected it and so many of them are
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trying to figure out why it happened
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besides the usual you know tripe of oh
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they hate women and you know everybody
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hates women kind of if you filter out
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that uh narrative I think the we the
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Democrats need to understand and they
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are reaching out to us including to
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Hindu action uh to figure out what's the
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community's analysis you know what what
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people like us who usually work within
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the community uh felt and why this ch
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change happened so I thought it's
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important that we discuss this
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absolutely the first one you mentioned
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is the constant hounding and harassment
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of Hindus correct that was a huge deal
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uh most people did not understand most
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people in the current White House most
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people in the Democratic party
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leadership including those who are of
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Indian origin or are of Hindu origin did
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not pay attention to the anger within
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the community and trust me you you know
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it takes a lot to make our community
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pissed off uh so the the the anger
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within the community was palpable so two
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things I believe made a clear def you
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know clear demarcation and made the
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American Hindu Community feel that they
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were being targeted the first is the is
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the raid on the baps Mand in Robinsville
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uh you New Jersey for you know many of
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your viewers are fully aware of this
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within four months of the Biden Harris
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Administration in 2020
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the Mand the the largest Hindu Mand in
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the Western Hemisphere the Robinsville
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baps Mand was raided by SWAT teams so
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and it happened within the first four
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months of the new new Administration
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coming so there was amongst the baps
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Community amongst the Gujarati community
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and largely amongst the Hindu Community
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there was this this understanding that
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this was brewing up and it was a
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premeditated as if like let's come to
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power and do something uh approach
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approach to this issue and I think that
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made made quite a bit of difference and
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it put fear in the minds of the American
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Hindus to cap that off you know to top
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it off further after the new
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Administration came there was a series
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of movements around America all led by
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democrats all left by the extreme Fringe
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the left Fringe of the Democrats first
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in Seattle then in California and then
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in many other places to designate
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American Hindus and you know trap them
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under the so-called cast narrative and
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SB 403 was the culmination of that
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effort in California and and for those
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of you who have been following that it
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almost reached a within a hair's length
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of becoming a law and you know Governor
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Gavin knew some vetoed it at the last
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moment because it was so against the law
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that it wouldn't have stood scrutiny in
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the courts but the fact that SB 403 made
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it that far uh also created a lot of
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anger in the minds of the Hindus it was
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so blatantly anti- India and anti- IND
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indianamerican and anti-hindu that the
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community really took a step back and it
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was not just the Hindu community in
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California which obviously was at the
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Forefront of the of the brunt of this
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attack but it was the Hindu Community
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across the country which responded
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because it felt that this is a creeping
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attack and a creeping uh you know
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discrimination that was spreading all
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across the country and the Democrats
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fully embraced it and that was the
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reason why I believe that there was a
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big section of the community who
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genuinely questioned their allegiance to
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the party and almost felt helpless at
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their predicament because many people
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across the country uh from Indian origin
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have been lifelong Democrats and you
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know as a community organizer as an
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organ you know as a leader of Hindu
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action I meet people across the country
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and because you know we are nonpartisan
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so we we we are equally friendly with
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both supporters of both the parties and
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that was the main message we got from
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the people who were Democrats that I
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spent 30 years being a Democrat but I
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can't stand it anymore and that was that
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was the reason I believe the so the
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first point I think is very important if
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any Democrat thought leader in DC or
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anywhere is listening they should pay
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attention to this and now the next point
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that you pointed out is the willful
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neglect of legal immigrants from India I
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had the pleasure of Congressman rajak
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krishnam morti come on my Channel and he
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jokingly said that the wait time for
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green card for Indians now is 100
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years 100 years I mean that means that
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you are not going to get green card
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period and then I also brought up the
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issue of children who have turned 18 but
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they were not born in the United States
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and if the parents don't have a green
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card then they get stuck in limbo they
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have to return back to their Homeland
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which means the family gets split
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usually the mother takes the children
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back to uh India and uh this is
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something that needs to be fixed and he
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said well this is what we call as
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documented dreamers daa is undocumented
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dreamers this is documented dreamers I'm
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like you know dude do something about it
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I didn't say that I was being nice to
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Congressman rajak Krishna MTI if he's
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watching or if his team is watching I
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mean I felt a little you know funny
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about the way that conversation was
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going because years is come on now and
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and who who amongst them made sure that
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that would not get shortened they should
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they should introspect there are many
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Democrats who didn't want that to happen
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they didn't want to reduce the wait time
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for Indians to something more reasonable
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like five years maybe even five years is
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too long in my opinion so anyway so you
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your take on what is happening about
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this neglect of illegal legal immigrants
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in from India
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yes so you know as somebody who himself
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you know I I came here as a student I I
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worked on H1 Visa I was an H1 visa for
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14 years before you know my green card
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came so I personally know the Pains of
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the the the suffering pains and the
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sufferings of the indian-american
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community in terms of the Visa Green
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Card weight line and you know and it
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gets worse you know I am not I I am on
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I'm okay now because you know I got it
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10 years ago but now people are still
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still suffering so what I felt in this
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situation happened was there were
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Congress members from the
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indian-american community from the
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American Hindu Community who tried to
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solve this people like Raja people like
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Rana people like sh tanar they tried to
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help the community out but they were
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just powerless and at a time when kamla
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Harris was the white president and and
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she was in the White House it would have
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taken very little a couple of executive
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orders
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to fix this or to at least reduce the
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suffering for the people and in four
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years those executive orders never came
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it did not require a comprehensive
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immigration Bill to fix all the problems
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some of these problems for you know
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especially the legal uh the dala as as
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as you call it the children of the legal
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immigrants they had to pay international
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fees at universities because now they
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are stud on a student visa after living
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in that state for 15 years growing up in
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in California for 15 years going to
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school there and then now paying as an
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international student fees uh and being
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on student visa so that tragedy was
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never addressed despite all the powers
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that the White House had to address it
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and I think the community a big section
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of the community could not look away
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from it especially the responsibility
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that vice president Harris could have
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taken in this regard and it was not like
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they didn't know about it there were
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enough people in the community informing
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them beseeching them to do something
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absolute silence uh so that I think was
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a big big issue and I can tell you that
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that issue needs to be solved quickly
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and I hope that the the Republican uh
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team that is coming right now even
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though president Trump has been quite
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open about saying that legal immigrants
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especially those who go to universities
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in America should get green card as
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quickly as possible and all of them have
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been making positive noise you know VI
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has been making positive noise obviously
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uh Elon Musk has been quite supportive
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of legal immigrants so it needs to be
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seen how the current the coming
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Administration addresses it but I think
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the Democrats miss the bus by a mile on
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this one and it was tragic it was almost
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as if they made an extra effort not to
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address this issue then just miss it so
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that that was very bad on their part um
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the next one you said is growth in
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perception that Biden Harris aligned
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with non-government entities like Soros
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correct so that was a that is a global
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perception and and it's not just F
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related to India it's related to Europe
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like you know Hungary has been very
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vocal about this as a country there are
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they also banned
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him yeah so so so India has been a
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victim of that and there was a growing
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perception within America that much of
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the anti-hindu activism going on in
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America by nonprofits that are closely
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linked to the Democrats where being
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greenlighted by billionaires like Soros
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and and you know I I can go into one
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hour conversation on it on its own but
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and we have done that in the past but I
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genuinely believe that the big section
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of the community felt that this is
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something that the Democrats could have
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avoided or at least tried to balance it
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out but they did never did so Point
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number one which you know which is a
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which is the biggest reason in my
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opinion that and point number three are
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interconnected and people felt like
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Point number one was being driven by the
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point number three and that led to Big
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alienation within the community and even
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those Hindus American Hindus or Indian
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Americans who were part of the Biden
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haris team who had access to their to
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their ears you know who travel with them
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on on Air Force One in private would
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Express their inability to impress upon
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the leadership because they were like
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okay well some in New York or some
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billionaire somewhere who runs a big
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nonprofit is overruling our concerns and
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that also I have heard from people so so
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that was something that that was not
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taken well by the community even even
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their own allies within the Democratic
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Party from the indian-american community
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uh felt exasperated by this this
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situation um next one is Rise of
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American Hindus in the Republican
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leadership yes and uh and and this is
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where very openly visible now I mean
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most people can see this it was a series
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of events that made people feel that the
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Republicans despite their you know being
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Infamous of not being a party that is
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open to diversity uh of certainly having
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people who are more white supremacist uh
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more Christian right-wing leaning having
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said all of those things the fact that
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VI ramaswami who did face discrimination
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within the party but remained relevant
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and a very powerful voice in the
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Republican leadership that was part of
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the Trump team and VI ramaswami was a
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very you know he was quite open about
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being a proud Hindu that along with the
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fact that JD van Vance's wife was a
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practicing Hindu and Usha Vance was
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highlighted by the Republicans know all
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of them face discrimination too I agree
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to that but the fact that they were
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embraced by the leadership along with of
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course in the end Tuli gabard who is who
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is a very proud Hindu who has been on
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record saying that Democrats have
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discriminated against her on the basis
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of her faith being embraced by Trump
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himself in the last days of the campaign
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all of these made an impact and those
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American Indian Americans or those
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American Hindus who were kind of on the
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edge you know who had experien or who
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have narratives being fed to them that
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the Republicans are discriminatory
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against Hindus or Indians you know all
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those people kind of stepped a little
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bit towards the Republican side even
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more after they saw these young leaders
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come up and rised to the stage with
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Trump and I think that made a big
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difference you know I particularly like
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the Poise he exhibited Vive Ras Swami
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when he was confronted by people were
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actually very hostile in their
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description of the Hinduism religion
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corre and he was very very poised and he
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made sure that his answer actually hit
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home it was it takes some you know you
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have to think on your feet to come up
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with the right answer that will resonate
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with the viewer who had some you know
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preconceived notions about the whole
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thing so I really like the way he
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handled all those things and he never
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shered away from admitting that he was a
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Hindu and he was proud of being a Hindu
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and that that makes a big difference in
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fact he raised the intellectual
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discourse to a new level and you know I
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you know at one time we even tweeted
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that the way VI responds to the attacks
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on him and his Hindu Faith reminded us
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of the earlier days when when Scholars
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of ad and Vish and different schools of
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Hindu and Jane and both both the
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philosophies would debate each other and
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raise the discourse at the to the
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philosophical level I mean his responses
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were so well made and you know people
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may like to hear that or not like to
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hear that but that's what we are all
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proud of and I think that made an impact
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that made an impact not just on
00:16:20
indian-americans but also on mainstream
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Americans uh for every you know white
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supremacist nut case who questioned VI
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on his ideas and his faith and his
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background there were 10 others non-
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Indians in in some red State who became
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his fans and I think that that made an
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impact in the in the community and
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lastly out of control
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Dei spooked the new
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liberals correct so that I felt a lot
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most liberal I'm sorry the most Li sorry
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the most liberal amongst the
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indian-americans so you know younger
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people tend tend to be more liberal they
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need you know when they go to
00:16:59
universities they're obviously they're
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starting off from a left of center
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position uh lot of younger people felt
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the effect of
00:17:07
Dei in their college admissions they
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felt the effect of Dei after graduating
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from college and it hit them home they
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may have been liberal on many other
00:17:17
issues they may have been super liberal
00:17:19
on you know and were quite against Trump
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in many cases but when the super Dei
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narrative hit their personal lives their
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you know bank accounts HIIT their
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pockets they kind of started questioning
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the rest of the narratives that were
00:17:35
being fed to them and I think many young
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indian-americans uh shifted or at least
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became sympathetic towards the
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Republicans after their personal you
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know hatred and the personal
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discriminations they face based on
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Dei thank you so much viewers I hope you
00:17:52
got a gist of what the Indian American
00:17:54
voter was thinking before he voted or
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she voted in the 2024 elections is this
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going to continue perhaps yes because
00:18:01
the interesting study the analysis of
00:18:03
the vot says that the older the Indian
00:18:07
American the more the preponderance that
00:18:09
that person voted for the Democrat the
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younger ones de voted for the
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Republicans so this is not good news for
00:18:15
the Democrats we will leave it at that
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we are as always like you said we have
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our ears open anyone wants to come and
00:18:21
talk to us about where where they stand
00:18:23
and how they would like to steer the
00:18:25
Democratic party or the Republican party
00:18:27
for that matter we are always is open at
00:18:29
pgurus thank you so much UTV this was a
00:18:31
wonderful conversation we had and
00:18:33
viewers please like share and subscribe
00:18:34
to our Channel we want UTV to be a
00:18:36
constant contributor to pus and for that
00:18:38
he needs a lot of motivation and
00:18:41
encouragement thank you once again sir
00:18:43
thank you namaste
