'Whatever the hell his name is': Trump mocks NYC Mayor-elect Mamdani
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New York (PTI): US President Donald Trump has mocked New York City's Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, referring to him as “whatever the hell his name is”, while asserting that Americans now face a stark choice between "communism and common sense" following the November 4 elections.
Addressing the America Business Forum Miami in Florida on Wednesday, a day after Mamdani, an Indian-origin Democratic socialist, was elected as New York City’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor, Trump said when he was elected to his second term in office on November 5 last year, the American people had "restored" their sovereignty but "lost a little bit" of it with the mayoral election on Tuesday.
"But we will take care of it. Don't worry about it," he said, warning, “you watch what happens in New York, terrible... I hope it doesn't happen, but you're going to see it.”
"...and Mandami, whatever the hell his name is in New York... thinks it’s wonderful to have men playing in women's sports,” Trump said, drawing boos and jeers from the audience.
Trump, who had earlier warned that Mamdani's victory would bring a "complete and total economic and social disaster" to New York City, accused Democrats of installing a communist in the largest US city.
“If you want to see what Congressional Democrats wish to do to America, just look at the result of yesterday's election in New York, where their party installed a communist as the mayor of the largest city in the nation,” he said.
The US president said after Tuesday’s results, “the decision facing all Americans could not be more clear. We have a choice between communism and common sense. Does that make sense to you? Common sense? It's common sense or communism.”
He said communism hasn't worked in the past.
“Our opponents are offering an economic nightmare. We're delivering an economic miracle,” Trump said, adding that while he used to warn against electing socialists, “we skipped socialist and put in a communist instead”.
The Republican leader said his opponents are hell bent on turning America into a communist Cuba, socialist Venezuela, and "you see what happened to those places".
Cautioning that Democrats have become "so extreme”, Trump quipped that Miami could soon become a "refuge" for those fleeing communism in New York City.
Despite his attacks, the president expressed affection for his home city, saying, "I love New York... we had the telltale signs of trouble because we had a guy named de Blasio”.
Trump was referring to former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a member of the Democratic Party.
He reiterated that under his leadership, the US is not going communist in any way, shape or form.
“We’ll stop it. We're going to stop it. Stop this nonsense,” he said, adding that between a communist or a thug, the people “took the communist. It's pretty amazing. We could have done a little better in terms of candidates”.
“But the communists, Marxists, socialists and globalists had their chance, and they delivered nothing but disaster. And now let's see how a communist does in New York. We're going to see how that works out,” Trump said.
The president, however, added that he “will help them. We want New York to be successful. We'll help them a little bit, maybe”.
Meanwhile, in his fiery victory speech, Mamdani, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, said New York “will remain a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant”.
“After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power,” he said to thunderous applause.
"Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up," he said, adding, "To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us."
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
