GARDENER'S MAILBAG: What happened to my Mexican plum? - Sherman Denison Herald Democrat
GARDENER'S MAILBAG: What happened to my Mexican plum? - Sherman Denison Herald Democrat |
- GARDENER'S MAILBAG: What happened to my Mexican plum? - Sherman Denison Herald Democrat
- Kevin McCarthy: Biden's address to Congress was 'depressing, unexciting' - Fox News
- Derek O’Brien: ‘All parties make mistakes… We are quietly confident. Didi’s credibility will see us through’ - The Indian Express
| GARDENER'S MAILBAG: What happened to my Mexican plum? - Sherman Denison Herald Democrat Posted: 27 Apr 2021 05:02 PM PDT Dear Neil: This happened to my Mexican plum last summer. What caused it, and what can I do to prevent it this year? At first glance I thought this had been caused by caterpillars, but then I decided to Google "Texas A&M plant pathology bacterial leaf spot Mexican plum." Sure enough, as with domesticated varieties, this disease causes leaf spots that later turn brown and drop out. Their report does say that chemical control is not highly effective on fruit-producing varieties, so I can't get you much farther down the road, but at least you have an ID and a resource. Dear Neil: I have a vine that seems to crop up everywhere. (See photo of it in a stone path.) How can I eliminate it? The photo is blurry, but it appears to be some type of ivy (genus Hedera). I'd suggest that you try a broadleafed weedkiller (containing 2,4-D) applied directly and only to the ivy. Dear Neil: I had a large area of my lawn that I had covered with lantana. We were trying to cut down on the amount of grass we were maintaining. Now the lantana looks like it's not coming back, and the city is citing me. What should I tell the inspector?  You're probably going to have to replace the lantana if it hasn't resprouted by now. Granted, shrubs and perennials were slow to leaf out because of continued cool weather this spring, but enough time has passed. Turf is usually the lowest maintenance living cover for most landscape areas, so maybe you could consider going back to a compromise of some turf and some lantana or other flowering perennials. Dear Neil: We have a large post oak in the Hill Country that we have lost to Hypoxylon canker. Can we use the chips from having the stump ground in our compost back at home? Is there any danger of spreading the disease in that way? I spent some time on university plant pathology websites trying to find a good answer for you. The Texas A&M Forest Service has a fact sheet on Hypoxylon canker that tells us that the spores are rather omnipresent in wooded areas and that it's almost impossible to keep trees from being exposed to them. It's when trees are weakened, for example, by drought, that the disease takes over. It sounds like the chips should be fine in your compost. You're welcome to do some more searching online, however. I only spent 30 minutes on it. That doesn't make me an expert. Dear Neil: We didn't get our cast iron plants protected like you did, so ours turned brown. Should they be cut back just above ground line? They should be cut back, but they have started to grow by now, so you can't cut them that low or you'll be cutting new leaves. Trim just above the new growth. Dear Neil: We have Turk's cap planted beneath live oaks. We'd like to put mulch down around them for the good looks it brings. However, there are a couple of inches of live oak leaves on the ground there now. Must they be removed first. I know they're serving the same purpose, but we both prefer the looks of the mulch. I would remove live oak leaves. They don't break down very rapidly. They will pack down and form an almost impenetrable layer of organic matter – like a thatch roof. Wait for a warm, dry day and just blow them out. It should be fairly easy. Dear Neil: My sago palm is growing new leaves. It survived the cold and snow. Don't give up on them! The sago and palm experts told us clear back in February that it might be May or even June (on the taller types) before we would know if they had survived. So glad yours has! I'll bet the layer of snow was just the insulation it needed. That's been the case for many types of low-growing plants. Dear Neil: I have a Brown Turkey fig that survived the cold and is growing well. However, it has no figs this year. Do you think they will sprout later, or will they come back next year? I've always gotten a good crop. It will be fine, but 2021 will probably not see you harvesting figs from it. You're just lucky it made it through the cold. Many people would consider that a major victory, as they're having to start over with new fig plants. Dear Neil: I've attached a photo of a 3-shrub "hedge" of loropetalum in front of our house. It's done well for 12 years until last fall. It started to show signs of declining, and then February seemed to kill it. Now it's trying to come back with small buds. Should I wait on it?  If you had told me only about the winter damage, I'd be tempted to give it that second chance, but since it seemed to be going downhill prior to winter, it may have run out of steam, either because the soil wasn't to its liking or because it had been pruned repeatedly to the same height and may have simply worn out. It's probably time to start over. If you were happy with it in the first place you could rework the bed and replant with more loropetalums, or you could change over to dwarf hollies, dwarf abelias, boxwoods or some other low-growing plant. Dear Neil: My Shumard red oak is only leafing out on one side. The other side has no leaves at all. Is that because of the February cold? Will it all catch up? Is there anything I need to do or anyone I need to call? To your first question, yes, that's due to the cold, and it's a phenomenon we're seeing all across Texas. Red oaks have been completely erratic. Many have leafed out entirely normally. Some still have absolutely no leaves. Many have leaves on portions of the tree like you're describing. The state's finest arborists and foresters tell me, however, that we all need to sit back and relax for a few weeks. We need to let Nature take its course – that most of this will even out and most of the trees will be back to normal by the time we get into summer. There is nothing we can or should do to speed it along or to guarantee their success. It just is what it is. Above all, however, do not have them pruned now. For one thing, this is the prime season for the spread of the oak wilt fungus, so you really don't want to expose their internal wood to that fungus by pruning before mid-July. Plus, most of the pruning will end up not being necessary in the first place. Have a question you'd like Neil to consider? Mail it to him in care of this newspaper or e-mail him at mailbag@sperrygardens.com. Neil regrets that he cannot reply to questions individually. |
| Kevin McCarthy: Biden's address to Congress was 'depressing, unexciting' - Fox News Posted: 28 Apr 2021 08:00 PM PDT  This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," April 28, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Thanks, Bret. Thanks, Martha, And welcome to HANNITY. We begin tonight with a Fox News alert. Joe Biden's very first joint address to Congress. It is now officially in the books anything but unifying. But before we go to the very dull week frail Joe, wow. A star emerged tonight. Well, I've known about Senator Tim Scott, been friends with him for a long time. He just delivered what was extremely powerful, thoughtful, incredible response. The star by far of this night is Senator Tim Scott, South Carolina. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): From colleges, to corporations, to our culture. People are making money and gaining power by pretending we haven't made any progress at all. By doubling down on the divisions we've worked so hard to heal. You know this stuff is wrong. Hear me clearly. America is not a racist country. We are all in this together. And we get to live in the greatest country on Earth. The country where my grandfather in his 94 years saw his family go from cotton to Congress in one lifetime. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: Cotton to Congress in one lifetime. Hey Joe, you might want to take note. That's actually how you unify the country and lead. Now coming up. We're going to have a lot more Senator Scott's moving remarks. And he will join us on this program tomorrow night. Plus, full reaction and analysis of the Joe big bore socialist speech breakdown of his multitrillion dollar far-left socialist status authoritarian wish list that he's referring to as an investment. And we'll also tonight get a damning new report from New York. Andrew Cuomo's deadly COVID cover up. It is far worse than anybody ever thought. We have those details. We will also address the breaking news surrounding America's mayor, Rudy Giuliani, and saying we have a dual system of justice in this country, equal justice, equal application of our laws, that sadly appears to be a thing of the past. But first, it's not totally clear that the very weak, very frail, cognitively struggling Joe Biden really seems to have a grasp on the real state of our union. But he was able to slowly get through a speech crafted by his advisors, and I am sure practice for weeks. And at the beginning of his remarks, he thanked himself for the 220 million COVID-19 vaccinations or maybe a nice little unifying message to Operation Warp Speed and Donald Trump. Just a -- just a thought, Joe. Just a nod or something. Medical community, medical researcher, scientist that developed it. Yes, it wasn't you. But take a look anyway. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After I promised we'd get 100 million COVID-19 vaccine shots into people's arms in 100 days, we will have provided over 220 million COVID shots in those 100 days. Thanks to all the help of all of you. Today, 90 percent of Americans now live within five miles of a vaccination site. Everyone over the age of 16. Everyone is now eligible to get vaccinated right now, right away. Go get vaccinated, America. Go and get the vaccination. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: So President unity, Joe Biden, he could have just said, Thank you, President Trump. Operation Warp Speed was a tremendous success. And by the way, this needs to be said, you know, all the people in that room they've been fully vaccinated. Congress stated they were first in line back in December. We -- do we not have an explanation? Why can't that room be full? Why is everyone still wearing masks? Why is there the extreme social distancing? Are these not legitimate questions? I think they are that we all deserve answers to. Joe Biden, these lawmakers, they have been lecturing us, encouraging us, telling us that we all need to get vaccinated for months. They told us to follow the science and that the vaccines were incredibly effective. And why then are they still double masking social distancing after getting the vaccine? What kind of message is that sending? How does that encourage Americans who might be hesitant to get a vaccine? And of course tonight shortly after congratulating himself on his great COVID response, Joe then quickly moved to address the concerns of what is his radical socialist base. That is the New Democratic Socialist Party outlining his very own Green New Deal including of fully clean green power grid environmental renovations for thousands of homes and schools and buildings and 500,000 electric-charging stations for electric cars that Americans have not shown much interest in. A massive expansion of Medicaid and apparently massive new government subsidies for wind turbines and other forms of green energy. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: For me, I think climate change, I think jobs. American jobs plan will put engineers and construction workers to work building -- more energy efficient buildings and homes. Think about it. There is simply no reason why the blades for wind turbines can't be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing. No reason. None. No reason. There's no reason why American workers can't lead the world in production of electric vehicles and batteries. I mean, there is no reason. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: No reason not to put them in your backyard in Delaware. Now the logical question is how much and who's paying for it, Joe? Look at your screen. Biden's Green Infrastructure Investment Plan alone costs $2.3 trillion. Add that to a social welfare plan is new COVID spending package, and we're talking about over $6 trillion in new spending. And you the American people, you will be covering that tab. But don't take my word for it. Just listen to Joe, take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: How do we pay for my jobs and family plan? I made it clear we can do without increasing the deficit. Let's start with what I will not do. I will not impose any tax increase on people making less than $400,000. But it's time for Corporate America. And the wealthiest one percent Americans have just begun to pay their fair share. Just their fair share. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: People are couples Joe. You keep screwing this up. We needed an answer. And by the way, we can do this without raising the deficit. Probably the biggest lie from Joe Biden ever may be right up there with the window Joe over three times as he was climbing the stairs. That's really saying something. Now second of all, Biden isn't just planning to raise taxes on individuals making 200,000. Yes, he screwed it up again. But also couples, small businesses, corporations, which they pass the costs on to you, when the cost of energy goes up, you pay for it, that -- you pay at the pump, when you fill your gas tank, you fill for heating your home and cooling your home. And by the way, anyone who makes any income through capital gains, yes, that's going to go from 23 to 43 percent. And even then, that's not going to be enough. Mark my words, everyone that pays taxes will be forced to pay for these massive spending bills. I say it over and over again. Corporations don't pay taxes, they will pass the tax loss to you. And you will pay more for goods and for services and for energy all at the same time. You will pay for it. Let's be clear. America does not have a revenue problem. Prior to the pandemic after the Trump tax cuts. Yes, the federal government took in more tax revenue after the tax cuts than ever before in history. We don't have a revenue problem. We have a government spending problem. And Joe wants to make it far worse on human growth hormone and steroids, frankly, the way he's going forward. This might even include single payer Medicare for All. In fact, tonight, just a few years after calling Obamacare a big bleeping deal, you know, the one that promised keep your doctor plan and save money, the one where millions lost their doctors, millions lost their plans and we're all paying about 250 percent more. Joe Biden wants you to know that the healthcare system is broken. Well, you broke it, Joe. And just a few months after trashing President Trump's plan to lower prescription drug prices, is now vowing to lower prescription drug prices. Ultimately, this theme of his speech was yes, class warfare, divide the country, redistribution with every cliche you'd expect, every bumper sticker, every slogan that you could possibly mix in. A socialist wish list. Any way you want to package it, what Biden presented tonight was the failed idea, ideology, philosophy of socialism. That's it. Now America has a choice. America is at a crossroads. Socialism which will fail or freedom and capitalism which would work. You have leftists, authoritarianism, statism or freedom and capitalism. America, you will get to decide we are at a crossroads. 2022 is the night you begin to decide the future of this great Republic. And tonight, once again, it really makes you wonder who's in charge inside the Democratic Party. As a matter of fact, Joe doesn't even bother to show up for as important COVID-19 meetings. According to a report from RealClearPolitics, state governors are now increasingly frustrated that both Biden and Kamala Harris routinely skipped the weekly conference calls that are used to be coordinating the country's COVID-19 response. In his absence, Joe Biden appointed Governor Cuomo, really? Of New York, that guy? The nursing home executive order guy to lead our nation's COVID- 19 conference calls. Yes, the same Andrew Cuomo, the one that signed that executive action, that catastrophic policy that forced elderly patients infected with COVID-19 at of hospitals and back into long-term care facilities which lead to massive outbreaks and death among New York's most vulnerable population. The same Andrew Cuomo who is now under federal investigation for covering up his state's true nursing home COVID-19 death toll. And tonight, according to an explosive report from the liberal New York Times, the cover up is even worse than we thought. According to the piece, Cuomo's top aides they spent months hiding the true death toll numbers from the general public and even the state's own health officials. And get this, "The actions coincided with the period which Mr. Cuomo was pitching and then writing a book on the pandemic with assistance from his top aide." So is Andrew Cuomo ever going to be held accountable? I don't know if I'd hold my breath, I wouldn't count on it. Apparently, he's Joe's right hand man in the fight against COVID-19. Here with reaction. And by the way, Biden's joint address to Congress, Senator Ted Cruz. Senator Cruz, before we get to the socialist utopian, authoritarian statism of Joe Biden, I think we got to talk about the star of the night and that would be your colleague, our friend, and that would be Senator Tim Scott. SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I think Tim did a terrific job. I'm glad he gave the response. Tim is someone who understands firsthand that what the American free enterprise system is all about is the ability to rise from nothing to achieve the American dream. And as Tim pointed out, the extraordinary journey that his grandfather saw going from cotton to Congress, in one lifetime in 94 years. It really embodies who we are as a nation. HANNITY: Senator, let me get into some of this, if you want to cough, feel free. We'll take out the screen for a second, you know, oh, we could have taken him off the screen. But if you look at where we are, I think America is at a crossroads. You know, you -- what I would argue we've had in our lifetime, three waves of conservatism Reagan, the Contract with America, and the Make America Great Again, America First agenda, all things that we agree on. In every case, that agenda, those policies work, the history of socialism, you know well, is one of failure of one of unfulfilled promises, more poverty. And then it's a question of how much freedom you give to the government in the name of false promises, thoughts? CRUZ: Well, look, I think the speech tonight, you could sum up in three words, boring but radical. The speech by design was common dulcet tones. You know, I challenge you to remember a single line from the speech. I mean, it was monotone, the chamber was nearly empty. And that really has characterized the first 100 days of Joe Biden that he's tried to say nothing notable. He's tried to tweet nothing notable. I think that made the political decision that many people were tired of the drama of the previous four years, and they wanted something calm. And so -- but Joe is deliberately being boring. But the substance of what he's saying is radical. This is the most radical, first 100 days of any president in the history of this country. This makes Barack Obama look mild and moderate. You look at what Joe Biden stood up there tonight and said. He said number one, we're raising taxes, we're raising every tax. If you pay taxes in America, your taxes are going up. He said that they're going to raise individual income taxes. They're going to raise corporate income taxes. They're going to raise taxes on small businesses. They're going to raise capital gains taxes. They're going to raise the death tax. Every tax is going up. And it's to the tune of trillions of dollars. Look at what Joe Biden didn't say tonight. He didn't say we're opening up small businesses. He didn't say we're getting people back to work. He didn't say we're getting kids back in school completely missing from his remarks tonight. What was the outrage that more than half of the kids in America are not in person in school five days a week, and he provided zero solution to the crisis at the border that he caused. He pretended it didn't exist. This was all about trillions of dollars in spending, massive job killing regulations, trillions of dollars in taxes. And it was -- it was an unapologetic partisan speech. There wasn't even the tiniest fig leaf of an outreach to the other side. You know, it was 100 days ago, he gave his inauguration. We talked about unity. He talked about common ground. All of that was gone tonight. Tonight, this was an agenda that was set by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and AOC. It's the radicals and socialists. What did he talk about also? The corrupt politicians act, H.R. 1, a federal takeover of elections to keep Democrats in power forever. And he didn't once reject the radical Democratic plan we saw introduced this last week to pack the U.S. Supreme Court with four new liberals. This was a frightening speech, and it was a frightening speech masquerading in really boring toes. HANNITY: Pack the courts, legislative filibuster, D.C. statehood, all of these radical things, you know, even Democratic senator who's up for reelection in 2022, Mark Kelly said, what I didn't hear tonight was a plan to address the immediate crisis at the border. And I'll continue to hold this administration accountable. That sounds like a senator to me that's afraid of the coming election, Senator Ted Cruz. That's what I hear from Kelly tonight -- Senator Kelly tonight. CRUZ: Oh, sure. Mark Kelly has voted identically to Bernie Sanders. And it's actually a contrast, you know, Kyrsten Sinema, the other Democrat from Arizona showed some real courage. She and Joe Manchin are the two Democrats who are the only thing standing between ending the filibuster, making D.C. a state, packing the courts, the corrupt politicians act. And Mark Kelly hasn't shown a fraction of the guts that Kyrsten Sinema has shown or Joe Manchin has shown. You know, I got to tell, Sean, the most radical line tonight was when Joe Biden said we the people is the government. No, Joe, you seriously misunderstand the constitution. We the people is not the government. We are not a country of dictators in Washington, running the people. We the people is the people, damn it, who are in charge of the government, whose freedom you're taking away, whose liberty you're stripping away. And it showed the arrogance of the hard left that they think that it (INAUDIBLE) he is the state is what he said. And he is we the people. I mean, holy cow. That was radical. And then -- and that's where we're today's Democrats are. HANNITY: Well said. Senator Ted Cruz, Texas. We appreciate you being with us. Now, Joe Biden's speech tonight. Yes, low energy, low on solutions, high on spending and radicalism, as Senator Cruz just pointed out, Biden had some curious things to say about election reform. Watch this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: Congress should pass H.R. 1 and a John Lewis Voting Rights Act and send it to my desk right away. The country supports it. The Congress should act now. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: Here with reaction, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Congressman, I've compared the new Georgia law that Joe refers to is Jim Crow 2.0. He's now served, I think the State of Delaware, the last time I checked was 952 years. He never lifted a finger to reform and make more accessible voting in his State of Delaware as or as Joe calls it as his slave state. My question is, well, they have 17 early voting days in Georgia. They have none in Delaware. Both states require voter I.D. There's no drop boxes in the State of Delaware. They haven't been every precinct in Georgia. How come he's not -- his own state and why didn't lift a finger to fix Delaware's voting laws and make it more accessible? KEVIN MCCARTHY, MINORITY LEADER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Just like most every day, Democrats says do as I say not as I do. I mean, he'd ever even read the bill before he tells people who were the big losers in that? All the small businesses that were in Georgia that could have made tremendous amounts of money. I'm actually going to be there Monday talking to the small businesses about that. But the part that made the most history tonight, this will be the first time that response has upstage the President. People are going to start talking tomorrow that Tim Scott should be running for president. Could you imagine him on the debate stage versus Joe Biden? It's not even close. His most compelling story about the exceptionalism of America, when Tim, who's a close personal friend tells that story of his grandfather. Who has his two grandsons at the kitchen table every day in that newspaper in front of them who was only years later to Tim find out his grandfather could not read but wanted a better life for his grandsons because he knew that's what America meant. That he wanted him involved in the current events. And now, Tim Scott is the first black American ever to be elected to Congress and the Senate. HANNITY: You know, I'm looking at this agenda now. There's only what? Five, six seats to separate the majority that Nancy Pelosi has and I would argue she's not really the speaker anyway. I would say that would be the squad and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. But I -- but I asked you this now everything that is happening, can they get this through Congress, meaning the House and the Senate? Because the republicans have the power. They've got 50 U.S. senators and if they hold the line, and they walk out, never allow a quorum to start, none of these radical ideas can get passed. It'll stop there. Do you have confidence in Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski and guys like Ben Sasse? Because I don't. MCCARTHY: I think if we all hold the line together, we can stop it. Even in the House. There's a very fine line for the Democrats to be able to make it. I mean, the most interesting thing tonight when I was sitting out before walking in, there was Bernie Sanders. And I asked the senator, did you ever think you would be more conservative than the president? Think about how far they've come. The Democrats want to demonize -- HANNITY: Well, what did he say? Well, you can't leave us hanging. What did he say? MCCARTHY: He looked at me and laughed. But he understood what I was saying to him. Because think about what the Democrats have done. They demonize work so Americans will become dependent on government. And that's it. That was -- we sat around talking, Jim Jordan and I right afterwards. We said, did we hear this right? That the President just said we the people is government? I mean, I was shocked if we sat there, the American public needs to wake up, he doesn't understand what the constitution says. And the most concerning to me is think about how much money he is spending. I mean, if you look at what we spent in the in the New Deal, that's about 5.6 percent of the GDP. This is five times larger. So anybody out there, I don't care what he says about taxes, about how much money you make. Everybody in America is going to get their taxes increase, and everybody who's not even born yet is going to be burdened with this tax. This is something that we've got to stop. HANNITY: You know, this notion that corporations pay taxes, it's a total lie, Congressman. MCCARTHY: That is. HANNITY: All of this Green New Deal spending, OK. That means every American's going to pay more when they fill up their gas tank, heat their home, cool their home, either want to retrofit everything, I see nothing but an unmitigated disaster. By the time we add up the total cost of this. It's trillions and trillions of dollars that get us nowhere. We've been down this road, it's called Solyndra. Why double down on stupid? MCCARTHY: He just continues. He wants control of your life. He's going to control how much meat you can eat. Can you imagine that? And think of this, if he really wanted to unite us why didn't he congratulate Operation Warp Speed? All the Americans who worked on that. That brought that vaccine, that he was able to take before he was ever to be sworn in. The idea of a goal of 100 million that was the goal we already had prior and we're going to meet. If you want unite -- (CROSSTALK) HANNITY: But can I ask you to question? MCCARTHY: Yes. HANNITY: OK. I watched this tonight. I see the room as well, you know, only 200 people in there. And I'm looking at -- well, you've had access as a congressman to the vaccine, what? Since December, everybody's had a chance to get vaccinated. Everyone's mask stops, total social distancing. The American people have been told believe the science, right? OK. Get vaccinated. We've been lectured every freaking day about everybody. And everyone got the vaccine. Is there something we weren't told that the vaccine maybe you don't have confidence in because if you had confidence in it, why wasn't the room full and why was everyone wearing a mask and social distancing still? MCCARTHY: Because this is what the speaker wants. If we were in the Senate, you don't have to wear a mask. I asked the doctor about that. He says they have different traditions. But you want to know something very interesting, Sean? They handed out a mass to every member, an N95. And you know what's planted on the front of that mask? Made in China. They handed the U.S. Congress every single member, a mask that said Made in China. To me, the one thing that Nancy Pelosi's mask -- (CROSSTALK) HANNITY: Courtesy of the virus that came from China. MCCARTHY: Exactly. And it's the same thing of Biden's policies. They're both made in China. He wanted tell us how tough he was with Xi or with Putin. I felt no toughness hearing it. I've been to more than 10 of these and that was the most kind of depressing unexciting, it was kind of a mundane moment. You're sitting there, and you're almost depressed as an American. You want to be excited about this regardless whose party, whose president is standing there. It's all of our president. And for that idea of what he gave, it wasn't instilling us the idea of uniting as empowering believing in the exceptionalism of this country that we could be able to compete. He -- it wasn't a moment in time that when I got to turn on the television, I saw Tim Scott, that's the America I wanted to follow. That's the American and the children know that we will win the next century. Congressman, thank you. Now as I said at the start of the program, a star was born tonight. His name, Senator Tim Scott from the great State of South Carolina. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SCOTT: Our best future will not come from Washington schemes or socialist dreams. It will come from you. The American people. Black, Hispanic, white and Asian, Republican and Democrat, brave police officers and black neighborhoods. We are not adversaries. We are family. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: All right. Joining us now for reaction also in the great state of South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham. Now Senator Tim Scott's here tomorrow. So to Senator Tim Scott, he's not really a star born tonight. We both have known for a long time, he's a star. And every time he's on my radio show, he goes to my radio show. Be on T.V. tomorrow night, a lot. And all we do is make fun of you and talk about how he's really the senior more popular senator from the great State of South Carolina. SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Well, let me tell you, you got to live to work with if you want to make fun of me. Here's the deal. Tim Scott is one of the smartest people I've ever met. He has a genuine good heart, very principled. And what you and I know the country saw tonight. So Tim, you made your state proud. You made conservatism proud. Tim explained to the American people with a smile on his face that there's an alternative to Biden's America. Joe Biden scared the hell out of me (INAUDIBLE) he looked weak as commander in chief, and he embraced socialism. Tim Scott made me feel great about being a Republican, proud to be from South Carolina and hopeful about my country. But he became public enemy number one tonight. Check out the internet and see what the liberals are saying about Tim Scott. So votetimscott.com is his Web site. They're going to crush this guy if they can. Jaime Harrison, my opponent who raised $132 million and is now the Democratic National Committee Chairman. He is going after Tim in a big way tonight. So if you want to help Tim, go to votetimscott.com and give what you can because the enemies of Tim Scott are going to do the same tonight. We need to have Tim's back like you had my back. I remember what it was like after Kavanaugh. Tim is in for a real -- a real challenge here and we need to help him. HANNITY: But count me because he is an amazing leader. You know, it's very interesting. We've been -- the times you've been on this program we've been looking forward to 2022. We just a few seats away, Republicans taking back the House. And if you want to talk about a bellwether for 2024 you got to look at the senatorial map for 2022. Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Ohio and Arizona. Something interesting was said by the great senator Democrat, Kelly from Arizona on Biden speech. What I didn't hear tonight was a plan to address the immediate crisis at the border. I'll continue holding the administration accountable to deliver the resources now. To me, I don't think that that Senator Kelly from Arizona would have said that if he wasn't up for reelection in 2022. But, you know, what can I say I'm cynical. GRAHAM: Well, all I can say is if you watch your show, you'll learn a lot about the border and politics in general. Why did Mark Kelly mention the fact that Joe Biden didn't talk about solving the border crisis? Because Joe Biden is the crisis. The root cause of the run on the border is not the northern triangle countries. They're no better no worse than they were when Trump, they're better I think because of Trump. The bottom line is, Joe Biden instituted Catch and Release. If you come to America, you get released in the country. You never show up to your court date. If you're under 16, you stay here. Where does that all over Central America that Joe Biden is going back to Catch and Release? And Mark Kelly knows unless you change, Catch and Release and reform asylum, it's never ending. And the reason Biden never mentioned it, is because the left won't let him mention it. The root cause of immigration chaos is Joe Biden. HANNITY: So, everything now as a different meaning than when we were used to: Infrastructure means childcare, infrastructure means redistribution, infrastructure is the Green New Deal. Everything. All right, so you got two trillion emergency COVID relief, that was anything but emergency COVID relief. And you got this new, what, four trillion-plus that they're going to spend on all the, these other radical policies? I don't know. I don't think you'd need a degree from MIT or Harvard to figure out that those numbers don't add up. And Joe Biden said he's going to be able to do it without creating a deficit. Senator, I got, I got an iPhone, like everybody else has a calculator on it. I can do the simple math. And pretty much if we confiscated the wealth of every rich person, which we're getting pretty close to, we're still wouldn't balance a budget, would we? GRAHAM: Know I mean, what Joe Biden did tonight was introduce the largest power grab in American history as President of the United States even more than FDR. HANNITY: No, he hid that part. He didn't talk about court packing. He didn't talk about ending the legislative filibuster. He didn't talk about D.C. statehood. He didn't talk about what's really radically going on in terms of the power grab. It kind of -- even though he said during the campaign, you supported none of these things? I saw a weak Joe Biden tonight, a dull Joe Biden, not the guy that you knew years ago. GRAHAM: Yes, really. I saw a socialist tonight. I saw a man who embraced socialism -- what did he tell us? To save American families, we're going to grow the government. The bottom line is, infrastructure now is about climate change. It's not about roads and bridges. And he talked about Russia and China in terms that were really unnerving to me. Do you think after listening to Joe Biden tonight that anybody that Kremlin is worried? Do you think the Chinese have any fear in them after hearing this speech tonight, it was so incoherent on foreign policy; he talked about leaving Afghanistan is that there's no consequence to leaving. He turned down sound military advice. This is the same Joe Biden that allowed ISIS to come back by leaving a rock. You just wait and see what happens. The bottom line tonight, that if I ever hear that Joe Biden's a moderator again, I'm going to throw up. Because after night, he embraced socialism. He made Barack Obama like Ronald Reagan. But here's the good news, there's a better way and Tim Scott embodies that way. Tim Scott did not only himself proud tonight, but he did conservatism proud and let's have -- HANNITY: Tim Scott. Oh, anyway, thanks. Great night for South Carolina. I will say that. Thank you, Senator Graham. Now, we did see the weak, frail, dull Joe Biden, wants more gun control on top of every other radical point of view. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need more Senate Republican to join the overwhelming majority of Democratic colleagues and close the loopholes required in background check purchases of guns. We need a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. And don't tell me it can't be done. We did it before and it worked. We're not changing the Constitution, we're being reasonable. I think this is not a Democrat or Republican issue, I think is an American issue. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: All right. Joining us now, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Republican Congressman, I wish he'd run for Senate in Ohio, Jim Jordan is with us, but he hasn't taken my advice. Nobody ever listens to my advice. I just get turned down all the time. And Mark, and Mark Meadows agrees with me, by the way, so you're outnumbered here. All right, so we've talked about the power grab. We've talked about the radical socialism. I wrote a book before the election, I released it this year, "Live Free or Die America: The World on the Brink," chapter four, Socialism, the history of failure. And maybe we'll start with you Mark Meadows, any form any manifestation, you get the same result. You get unfulfilled promises, you get more poverty. And then you got to calculate how much of your freedom you gave up in the name of false security from your government. Thoughts. MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, it was an unremarkable, uninspiring and unworkable vision for America that we saw tonight. And you're right, it's a socialist kind of agenda. You know, it was all about big government. You know, a big government was supposed to take care of your daycare, your job, your health care, your, your retirement. And ultimately, what we see is, is the big government was the answer for everything tonight. We would expect this kind of speech coming out of Havana, Cuba, not out of Washington, D.C. HANNITY: Well said. All right, so the same people that are making all these, we're going to take care of your education, everything guaranteed job, guaranteed health care, guaranteed healthy food, guaranteed, guaranteed, guaranteed. Jim Jordan, I'll ask you this, is that the same group of people that can't keep law and order in their states that they've run for decades? Is that the same people that bankrupted Social Security and Medicare? Is that the same group of people that said, keep your doctor plan and save money? And none of those promises were kept? Because that's why would people trust in the promises of false security by the people that fail on every level? REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Yes, and it's also the same people, Sean, who created the crisis on the border, the same people who've already spent $2 trillion, who are getting ready to spend 2 trillion more, who are getting ready to pack the United States Supreme Court, who are getting ready to federalize elections, and who are getting ready to, to, to, to do all these crazy left wing things. The big takeaway for me was just the lack of energy in the chamber. I said to someone, this was, this was socialism presented in slow motion. We know they're moving fast, but the presentation was just no energy at all. And you contrast that to a little over a year ago, when we were in that chamber, and President Trump honored Rush Limbaugh and the speech that he gave. I mean, that to me was the real contrast that came through. So, they didn't want to talk about all the things they've done in the 100 days, all the crazy things they've done and what they want to do now. And the only time immigration really came up was when Biden talked about giving a bunch of millions of people amnesty, so I don't think the American people bargained for all this. HANNITY: I asked Kevin McCarthy, I'll ask you, Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, we were told everybody get vaccinated. Everyone in that room, everyone in Congress has had a shot at the vaccine since when late December? They've all been vaccinated. All had the choice. Why not fill the room? And why is everybody wearing a mask? Is it -- I thought we'd get back to normal life or we told life would return to normal? That didn't look too normal to me? MEADOWS: Well, it's all about keeping us away from the freedoms. Jim Jordan talked about that in a hearing with Dr. Fauci not too long ago. But listen, this is the Democrats vision for America, an empty congressional chamber tonight symbolizes what they are already talking about empty churches, empty schools, empty workplaces. They believe that this is a return to normal, and yet the science didn't even back them up. They didn't even follow their own CDC guidelines tonight. This was all about a political statement. But the American people have had enough. It's time for our kids to be back in school and people to be back in their churches and everybody go back to work, and Joe Biden is - - didn't and get that. HANNITY: If we're vaccinated, do we -- does that mean what, mask and social distancing in perpetuity, Jim Jordan? JORDAN: No, it means Mark is exactly right, Sean, it's time to get our First Amendment liberties back. I mean, early in his speech, President Biden said we need to choose truth over fear. But the image from the chamber was exactly the opposite as Mark just laid out, and Americans are tired of having their First Amendment Liberties assaulted and attacked like they have been for a year. It's time to get those back and let Americans live free not on this socialist vision that the Biden administration has. HANNITY: All right, I got to come up with a name a brand for this tag team of Jordan and Meadows. I don't know what it's going to be, but it's going to be good. You know, Leo 2.0. I got to figure this out. We're going to come up with something. All right, thank you guys both. When we come back, Kayleigh McEnany, Steve Miller, they'll have reaction of Biden's radical address and much more. Speaking of Leo 2.0, he's coming up to straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HANNITY: Right now, tonight, we saw a very weak, frail Biden tried to hide his destructive socialist power grab with bumper stickers and slogans and clichAcs. Senator Tim Scott, he called him out, he exposed Biden's lies one by one. Joining us with reaction to tonight's speech, "OUTNUMBERED" Co- Host, Kayleigh McEnany, Former White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller. It was a good line post speech. Well, I'm not particularly the biggest fan of lately, Chris Christie. That was like a 15-year-old with a credit card, Kaleigh, that kind of made me chuckle. KAYLEIGH MCENANY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, that's exactly right. Look, Joe Biden has met with historians to try to make himself FDR. One notable difference as Rich Lowery points out, FDR had a 200 seat majority. Joe Biden has the slimmest majority since the final two years of Rutherford B. Hayes. So, that credit card he may try to make himself FDR, but he doesn't have the mandate to lead. And just, I know Tim Scott has gotten a ton of praise all well merited, I've just got to say to hear Tim Scott say America is not a racist country. That is what the American public wants to hear. An original sin is not the end of our story, redemption is. That inspiring message is the future of our party. What a contrast tonight. HANNITY: Yes, Joe Biden's friend, the former Klansmen that he partnered with to stop the integration of schools because they didn't want schools to become his words, racial jungles. Yes, it took Lyndon Johnson, he was the one that relied on Republicans, historically speaking. Steve Miller, you, you have played a role in crafting these speeches, State of the Union joint session of Congress with President Trump. There were good parts of this speech by America sounded right like Donald Trump, never ending wars. We got to get out of them. That sounded a lot like Donald Trump. Prescription drug prices be lowered. That sounded a lot like Donald Trump, said, wow, maybe learned a thing or two. STEPHEN MILLER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISOR: Well, there's, there's no doubt that his writers copied a few of President Trump's lines. But I'll tell you what, Joe Biden can't copy. President Trump's charisma. Boy, that was a dull, lifeless, boring speech. My Lord. I don't think I ever in my life -- HANNITY: I hate to say it, but it's like he's a corpse. I mean, you can't, it's unwatchable. MILLER: Right. I have never, I have never seen such extreme ideas, married to such a completely dry text. I mean, just from a pure writing standpoint, this wasn't a speech, Sean. This was a laundry list. Like a series of bullet points, read in order, nothing stitching it together. No big idea. I mean, compare that to a year ago. In President Trump's speech with all of the excitement and the enthusiasm, and the energy, the patriotism, the optimism, this speech was literally like watching paint dry on the side of an old house. HANNITY: I mean, there's and then you watch the, I call it the Biden shuffle. So, you know, the little baby steps that he takes as he walks and little elbows looks like it's an effort. I did, it doesn't seem to be a vitality, in, in, in how he approaches this. And it's the hardest job in the world, Kayleigh. This is not, this is not for somebody that doesn't have a high energy level. MCENANY: Sure, he ended his speech by saying thank you for your patience, hardly the way you want to end your first address to Congress. Look, my, my friend and former colleague, Stephen Miller, I got to say that last state of the union by President Trump was one of the most well written state of the unions well delivered State of the Union I've ever heard. It's about the American people. And to watch American hero stand up all across that room as President Trump acknowledged them, inspiring our country to come together in unity. It was a beautiful speech and you just got none of that tonight. Well done, Stephen Miller. He teaches as a speech writer. HANNITY: Last 15 seconds Steve Miller, America is at a crossroads. 2022 is everything, Stephen? MILLER: Don't be fooled by the boring, lifeless, insufferable language. Look at the ideas behind it. You saw an agenda for open borders, defunding police and the largest big government spending binge in U.S. history. HANNITY: Well said. Thank you both. Directly ahead, more divisive racial rhetoric from Biden. Larry Elder, Leo 2.0. Straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HANNITY: All right. Joe Biden tonight once again claim that America is, has systemic racism. But of course, well, is taking no responsibility for his disastrous record on the issue of race, one of the few people that tell you the truth about it. Let's compare that to what rising Republican star Tim Scott had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): Last year, after the deaths of Briana Taylor and George Floyd, I built an even bigger police reform proposal. But my Democratic colleagues blocked it. I extended an olive branch. I offered amendments. But Democrats used the filibuster to block the debate from even happening. My friends across the aisle seem to want the issue more than they wanted a solution. But I'm still working, I'm hopeful that this will be different. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: Here with reaction, Fox News Contributor and Civil Rights Attorney Leo, 2.0, Terrell, along with nationally Syndicated Radio Talk Show Host Larry, 1.0, Elder. OK, we have a big disagreement, Leo, you gave an A-minus to Tim Scott. Wrong Professor, A-plus, what, would you go to Harvard to grade? LEO TERRELL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Excuse me, the only reason why I gave him an A-minus, it wasn't long enough. He could have gone on. It was a perfect speech. It was echo. HANNITY: Well, you should have said that. TERRELL: Hey, listen, I'm explaining right now. He got a mic. Let me tell you right now. Tim Scott show vigor, energy, and he's a truth teller. Sean, I've been on every one of these Fox programs and your program. Systemic discrimination does not exist. Systemic discrimination does not exist. You had Tim Scott, basically debunked all the lies being told by the left. He said very clearly, America is not a racist country. And he told the truth. Tim Scott should be the Senate Minority Leader, effective tomorrow, because he is the leader. He is a shining star within the Republican Party. One final point, he made it very clear. And I said this to you last night, Sean, that Democrats do not want to get rid of the race issue. They love it. And what Tim Scott said they rather have the issue to the solution? Exactly, because they want the chaos. But Tim Scott is a truth teller and you saw it tonight. HANNITY: Larry Elder. LARRY ELDER, SYNDICATED RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, the Democrats, of course, need to have the race card. Without the race card, they can't win. And Leo is exactly right. They want this issue. They don't want it to go away. And by the way, it's a bogus issue. Not only is it bogus, it's getting people killed. It's called the Ferguson effect. The cops are pulling back for fear of being accused of racism. Bad guys know it. Young black men are not complying because they're being taught by our so-called leaders, whether it's brock Obama or Al Sharpton or Eric Holder or Maxine Waters that the police are out to get you, so why should they comply? And as a result, a stop that otherwise would be fairly routine becomes DEFCON 1 because of this systemic racism lie. Was I asleep when Obama got elected and re-elected? And when in 2008, the percentage of eligible blacks exceeded the percentage of eligible whites to vote for the first time in American history? In 1958, when this question was first asked whether you would vote for a black president, 37 percent of Americans said yes, now only three percent say no. So, where's the systemic racism? It's a con that the Democrats are doing for votes and the media does for ratings. HANNITY: All right, and by the way, I don't see Larry 1.0's hat, Leo, you're supposed to give Larry the hat. Where is it? (CROSSTALK) ELDER: Systemic racism. HANNITY: I want to see it. ELDER: Systemic racism. HANNITY: We have an announcement on Hannity when we get back straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HANNITY: All right, announcement and programming note tomorrow night, Senator Tim Scott, the star of tonight, he'll join us exclusively on this program. You don't want to miss it. That is, though, all the time we have left for this late edition of Hannity. We'll never be the media mob. We're always independent. We'll have a lot more. We'll talk about Cuomo, the reaction to tonight, and of course, Rudy Giuliani. Let not your heart be troubled. The news continues. Laura Ingraham up late. Content and Programming Copyright 2021 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 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| Posted: 26 Apr 2021 12:16 AM PDT O'Brien says EC must answer for firing that killed four, clarifies party's position on the insider-outsider debate, asks why Abhishek Banerjee has not been arrested if charges against him true, and says parties now need men like Prashant Kishor. The session was moderated by Special Correspondent Dipankar Ghose. DIPANKAR GHOSE: Six of eight phases of polling are done in West Bengal. Where do you think this election stands right now? We have been focused on our campaign. We are saying that in the last 10 years, the Mamata Banerjee government has delivered on many parameters — health, education, road, infrastructure, electricity, employment, IT, women's safety. We are also saying that in the last 10 years, we haven't done it all. On the other side, you have the BJP. You judge them on the promises made and the promises they have kept. This is the basic proposition. The BJP wants to make comments, indulge in bluster and big talk and play mind games. We haven't been into that. The bottom line is if you are fighting the world's most destructive political force…you have to acknowledge that they have the money. And I dare say that they found a new ally. We always knew it was a hidden ally, but in the last two weeks the extremely compromised Election Commission (EC) has come out openly as their ally. DIPANKAR GHOSE: While you attacked the Prime Minister for holding rallies even as the Covid-19 caseload was rising, the Trinamool also wasn't very prompt in shutting down its rallies and campaigns. We have been appealing to the umpire, the Election Commission, for a long time. Please look at the press conference by Mamata Banerjee after the election schedule was announced. We said that you are comparing the situation now to 2016 (for holding polling in eight phases). In 2016, there were hundreds of deaths due to insurgents, now that number is zero. And the second reason we gave for (not holding the polls over eight phases) was the situation of the pandemic. So we have been very, very consistent. Going back to the Election Commission, by the way, we have written thousands of letters to them and physically delivered 108 letters. What have we been saying? Change the rules, change the rules, change the rules! But the Election Commission did not act. The only time they acted was two hours after Mr Modi's announcement… There's no fig leaf of pretence anymore. I have a lot of things to say about the EC which I will say after May 2… What they say within those closed-door meetings, it is pathetic. And by the way, how come this election is being conducted with two of the three ECs. Everybody knew the third person was going to retire? Maybe Amit Shah is the third EC. He might as well come out and do it openly… It's a very bad situation. As far as the BJP goes, it is their umpire, their bat, their ball, their pitch… But we still have to play the match, that is why we say 'match on (Khela Hobe)', what can we do? SANTANU CHOWDHURY: The Trinamool always refers to the BJP as the tourist gang and outsiders in Bengal. Can you elaborate? Also, why is caste playing such a big role in the polls this time? Let me answer your second question (on caste) first. Politics in Bengal has never seen the kind of divide that the BJP is trying to play up desperately in typical Modi-Shah mode. They can keep playing it up but we still believe that people will not buy it. Now on to the first part, what do we mean by outsider? Because otherwise this entire debate can be misconstrued. What do we mean by outsider, insider? Whether your name is Agarwal, Gupta, D'Souza, Sharma, Roy Choudhry, Jha, you are not an outsider. People who come here, live here, work here, have a ration card here… Outsiders are those who like the BJP have come into Bengal two months ago to suck the state for votes. There is a clear distinction between outsider-insider in Bengal. Shouldn't I call Amit Shah an outsider when he says Rabindranath Tagore was born in Shantiniketan? Shouldn't I call the BJP an outsider when they go and garland the wrong statue of Birsa Munda? It doesn't work… That is the distinction between outsiders and people from Bengal. So they (the BJP) will try and confuse the argument, but we are very clear. We are in a very positive campaign… We are saying talk to us about farmers. You promised Mr Prime Minister that you will double farmers' income by 2022. At the current rate, that's not going to happen before 2028. In 2011, Mamata Banerjee said she will double farmers' income. She didn't double farmers' income in 10 years, it has actually tripled… Talk to us about Kanyashree (an initiative of the state government to improve life and status of girls), which has won the United Nations award… Our budget for the scheme is Rs 9,400 crore. What is the benefit of that? It has brought down early marriage figures, improved infant mortality rate… Talk to us about road construction, MSMEs… That is Bengal. Talk to us about the 95 lakh new households electrified since 2011… Talk to us about these, instead of digressing and bringing Pakistan into the narrative or starting some other divisive narrative. That's not going to work… They can't send any of their MPs to debate us because five of their MPs have been demoted to fight MLA elections in West Bengal… MANOJ C G: Can the BJP's rise in the state only be attributed to the fact that they have more funds? The BJP had around 10% of the votes and three seats in the last Assembly elections, and in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls they went on to win 18 seats, accounting for nearly 40% vote share. Let me give you some facts. The CPM vote share dropped from 30% to 7% in the last election, and the Congress's vote share dropped from 10% to 5%. So there is an opposition space there. The Trinamool Congress didn't drop its vote share. The Trinamool's vote share went up by 2%… Today, there is enough evidence on the ground that the Left front, the CPI(M) is telling people to vote for the BJP. The Opposition space has gone to the BJP. MANOJ C G: But there are other issues as well, including anti-incumbency against your government and your MLAs at the local level, corruption, cut money, and perceived resentment against appeasement policies. These have also played a role in the rise of the BJP in the state. There has to be anti-incumbency. There is Covid, we also had Cyclone Amphan last year, which was the number one setback in Bengal. We have to acknowledge that. Of course there will be anti-incumbency; after 10 years in government you will have to change your MLAs. I always say who is talking about corruption. If the Trinamool has small-time retail corruption down the line, the BJP has corporate, wholesale corruption. They are the most corrupt political party in the world. And this is not rhetorical. Look at the CAG reports from the last one-two years. Look at electoral bonds… For every Rs 100 given on electoral bonds, the BJP gets Rs 60. Look at PM-CARES. They do it in a wholesale way. They are very stylish about it. Look at the way they control surrogate media and digital platforms. Look at the way it is controlled, and you are talking of corruption. DIPANKAR GHOSE: The alleged violence by Trinamool workers has also added to the anti-incumbency… If everything was so wrong about the Trinamool Congress, then how come our party's ministers were being used in the BJP in the washing machine format?… Suvendu Adhikari, Mukul Roy have suddenly all become angels… You have run them through the washing machine… You take all of them, you shut the cases down and you throw corruption charges at us… You are making all these accusations against Abhishek Banerjee… All agencies are yours — the CBI, ED. Put forth the evidence and arrest him… But you can't do that. You are only doing this for your 9 pm television channel shows… After four days, it will all go away. You talk about dynasty. What is dynasty? Who is your Nandigram candidate? His father is an MP, his brother is an MP, his elder brother is a councillor and his sister-in-law is also a councillor. All these guys are dynasts. Piyush Goyal is not a dynast? Anurag Thakur is not a dynast? I have made a list of 37, they are all dynasts… What is Jay Shah's contribution to cricket? Nobody talks about it… ATRI MITRA: In villages affected by Cyclone Amphan, there have been accusations of corruption against many panchayat leaders. How are you assuring these sections? That is where we needed to do some self-assessment. We did it and got some feedback. That is why six-eight months before the polls we started the door-to-door 'Duare Sarkar' outreach programme, saying that we are not perfect. That is the course correction. You have to have the humility to course correct. You can't have the hubris of a Modi who announced demonetisation and didn't have the humility to course correct… But that does not mean that every single person down the line is corrupt. RITIKA CHOPRA: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor has said that he doesn't agree with the attack on EVMs. What is your response to that? He also said that Narendra Modi is a popular leader on the ground. Do you agree with his assessment? I am a believer of the fact that to fight elections today, political parties need Pashant Kishor and Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC). The MPs and political leaders who think I-PAC is the competitor, they are old school, they are blind. They don't know how elections work. I-PAC is an important resource and Prashant is a great mind to have in a team. Number two, Modi is a popular leader. Do you think Hitler was not a popular leader? He (Kishor) said nothing controversial. His view on EVMs is his view, my party's view is a different view. That's perfectly fine. We don't have to agree on everything… We are very suspicious that the Election Commission is sold out. I made a mistake by calling the EC 'extremely compromised'. They are a completely sold-out body. It is very, very sad. SHUBHAJIT ROY: Essentially there is a sense that the Trinamool has gone all out on minority appeasement. There seems to be some latent anger among Bengali Hindus in West Bengal regarding the matter… Bengali Hindus are angry with the Trinamool you say. Minorities account for 27% of the votes in Bengal. How come we got 45% of the votes in the Lok Sabha elections? This is all a cock-and-bull mindset that Bengali Hindus vote for the BJP and somebody else votes for the Trinamool… Mamata Banerjee recites the Chandi Path in the privacy of a room, but when she recites it publicly you say she is trying to appease… Religion is private, festivals are for everyone. It is not my quote but it is very Calcutta. It's very Bengal. There is a Jewish Bakery called Nahoum in Kolkata. The Christmas cakes at the shop are baked by Muslim bakers, and you can see Bengali Hindus queuing up to buy the cake. That's the Bengal we know. This is not Amit Shah's Bengal, this is not Modi's Bengal. Derek O'Brien is a minuscule minority of a minority. I don't represent an Anglo-Indian nominated seat. I am an elected member of the Rajya Sabha. It can only happen in Bengal with Mamata Banerjee. SANTANU CHOWDHURY: Does the Trinamool have a plan in place to manage the Covid-19 crisis if it returns to power? The first thing we will do is implement free vaccination from May 2. When the March 2020 lockdown announcement happened, nobody was taken into confidence — neither Parliament nor the state. It's only later that Modi and Shah realised that the states did all the dirty work when it came to implementation. Earlier, they were quick to take the credit… Overconfidence, arrogance, hubris… Now it is back to what the states can do. (In case of the TMC) at least you know who will implement the policies. Who will implement it for the BJP? Who is their CM candidate?… The question of the BJP winning Bengal doesn't arise. They have hyped up this election by an enormous proportion. SWEETY MISHRA: Youngsters in Bengal feel that the state hasn't offered them much. Perception building is an area where we can do better. For example, IT exports in Bengal went up by 175 per cent in the last 10 years. We must get this across. There are 1,500 companies now in Bengal. In 2011, there were 490 companies. There were 90,000 IT professionals in 2011. Now, there are almost 2,20,000 IT professionals… DIPANKAR GHOSE: Has religious polarisation increased on the ground in Bengal? There may be three reasons for that. The first reason is that there is an Opposition vacuum created after the collapse of the Left and the non-existence of the Congress. That has to be occupied. Number two, the BJP cannot compete on governance and development, so they want to write a new story for Bengal, which is a divisive, polarised one. There is no doubt about it. And the third reason is that they run a completely negative campaign. You want to recruit, you will recruit anybody, there is no organic growth there… There are three BJPs in Bengal. One is the 'BJP Original', which is Dilip Ghosh's BJP… Then there is a 'BJP B', which has those who left the Trinamool Congress five years ago. And the third one is 'BJP Tatkal', made of those who joined the party in the last three-four months for various reasons… After the results on May 2, when the Trinamool wins, these three BJPs cannot function together… I am saying this as a student of politics. MANOJ CG: During the 2018 panchayat elections, when the Trinamool candidates were uncontested in 30% of the seats, it was the Opposition that had attacked the State Election Commission for their candidates not being able to file nominations… We have been a political party since 1998… You can't point out a single political party which hasn't made mistakes. When you introspect… of course, the 2018 (panchayat polls) didn't go well for us. We could have done that differently…. All parties make mistakes, even bigger mistakes. But trust Didi, she is the captain of the ship. That is why we are quietly confident. When there are professional surveys (conducted) by the TMC, the Chief Minister's ratings are right up there. With the Chief Minister's rating hovering around 50 per cent, you can certainly look at those numbers and say the CM's own credibility is good. And that is what will see us through eventually. SHUBHAJIT ROY: If the Trinamool loses the election on May 2, will you accept the verdict or blame EVMs and the EC for the results? Why should I allow a negative thought to come to my mind? Why should I allow a hypothetical question? Why should I allow a question when my data and feedback from the ground says we are comfortably ahead of the BJP compared to 2019. We are winning this election, Mamata Banerjee will be the chief minister for the third time in a row. The two turncoat ministers from the TMC will be defeated. And the Union Minister will also lose in the polls. …During the firing in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar, four people died. No matter what the result is on May 2, the EC, Amit Shah or whoever it is, has to be held accountable. Where is the video footage? Where are the 2,000 people who came around and did all those barbaric acts (attacked the security forces)? Where is the video footage of snatching of guns? No matter what happens on May 2, why did you shoot to kill? Why didn't you shoot waist downwards? These are the big questions which the EC has to answer. One of the human tragedies of this election is that the EC was shooting to kill. We will take this up from the afternoon of May 2. The EC issue will not stop because it is not about the EC. It is about an institution… Irrespective of the result, I will actually disclose official conversations between the EC and the Trinamool. I am told that those conversations were recorded. If I can access those conversations, I must expose it. |
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