Highlights:
Ramaswamy Said Trump Was “Duped” By The “Managerial Class In The Swamp” Which Resulted In Trump’s Policies Not Being Implemented. According to NBC News, “Ramaswamy also said that Trump had allowed himself to get ‘duped’ in Washington, leading to some policy proposals not getting implemented, like the mass firing of federal employees. ‘I think it takes two things to actually get this right,’ he said. ‘One is an outsider who can break the system when necessary. I bring that, Trump brings that, too. But it also takes an outsider who knows and deeply understands the law and the Constitution of this country. I think in many ways, this managerial class in the swamp, they duped Donald Trump.’ ‘They duped Trump in a way that they won’t be duping me,’ Ramaswamy added later.” [NBC News, 1/3/24]
Ramaswamy Said Trump Made A “False Promise” To “Repeal And Replace Obamacare.” According to the Associated Press, “Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy swiped at former President Donald Trump on Thursday for failing to repeal and replace the health care overhaul championed by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. ‘I am never somebody who will make a false promise,’ Ramaswamy said at an event in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. ‘My friend Donald Trump promised us: repeal and replace Obamacare. Eight years later, did it happen? No, it did not. It is a false promise if it is contingent on Congress.’” [Associated Press, 9/21/23]
Ramaswamy Criticized Trump For Not Stopping The Drug Cartels. According to the New York Post, “Trump also came up short at the border, he said. “He had a chance to use military force against the cartels — didn’t do it,’ Ramaswamy said, adding that he planned to send the U.S. military to the southern border to stem the flow of migrants and rein in murderous drug cartels now flooding the country with fentanyl. ‘I would prioritize … the use of the US military to secure our border,’ he said ‘That includes using the military to decimate the cartels, the way you would treat terrorists like Soleimani or Bin Laden.’” [New York Post, 3/4/23]
Ramaswamy Criticized Trump For Not Ending Affirmative Action “With The Stroke Of A Pen.” According to the New York Post, “Trump ‘could have ended affirmative action with the stroke of a pen. He didn’t,’ said Ramaswamy, 37, who has made repealing Executive Order 11246 a central tenant of his young campaign. The order, signed by President Johnson in 1965, and considered a pillar of the civil rights movement, mandates ‘race-based quotas’ for government contractors, he said.” [New York Post, 3/4/23]
Ramaswamy Said Trump Should Have Fired Anthony Fauci. According to the New York Post, “Ramaswamy — who is estimated to be worth $700 million — said Trump was also wrong for not reigning in Fauci, the nation’s de facto coronavirus czar. ‘I think [Fauci] seized authority that no statute or the constitution gave him. I think he should have been fired,’ Ramaswamy said.” [New York Post, 3/4/23]
Ramaswamy Said He Disapproved Of Trump’s “Large-Scale Government Spending And His Tariff Policies.” According to the Huffington Post, “The libertarian ethos of ‘free minds and free markets’ extends seamlessly into Ramaswamy’s economic vision. The starkest example is Ramaswamy’s unabashed support for free trade. In his 2022 book, ‘Nation of Victims’ ― the second of three he has published since 2021 ― Ramaswamy wrote that while he voted for Trump in 2020, he ‘disapproved of his large-scale government spending and his tariff policies.’ ‘My first and best choice is definitely bilateral agreements with each of those countries where we each get something out of the trade.’ Indeed, Ramaswamy wants to expand U.S. trade with other countries, including in the developing world, rather than restrict trade with tariffs. He has called for reentering the modified Trans-Pacific Partnership ― a 12-nation Pacific Rim trade accord that former President Barack Obama negotiated and Trump shelved ― maintaining that the deal is part of ‘declaring independence’ from China.” [Huffington Post, 8/30/23]
Ramaswamy Would Not Reinstate Trump’s Ban On Transgender People Serving In The Military, But Would Enact A “Limited Ban” On Combat Roles. According to the Huffington Post, “But in other ways, Ramaswamy’s libertarian roots remain apparent. He wants to decriminalize marijuana and is open to making psychedelic drugs available as a way to wean people off of opiates. He would decline to reinstate Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military (though he would enact a ‘limited ban’ for combat roles), and has no problem with adults getting gender reassignment procedures.” [Huffington Post, 8/30/23]
Ramaswamy Supported Decriminalizing Marijuana. According to the Huffington Post, “But in other ways, Ramaswamy’s libertarian roots remain apparent. He wants to decriminalize marijuana and is open to making psychedelic drugs available as a way to wean people off of opiates. He would decline to reinstate Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military (though he would enact a ‘limited ban’ for combat roles), and has no problem with adults getting gender reassignment procedures.” [Huffington Post, 8/30/23]
As President, Trump Rescinded A Obama-Era Policy That Prevented Federal Authorities From Going After Marijuana In States Where It Was Legal Under State Law. According to the Associated Press, “The Trump administration threw the burgeoning movement to legalize marijuana into uncertainty Thursday as it lifted an Obama-era policy that kept federal authorities from cracking down on the pot trade in states where the drug is legal. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will now leave it up to federal prosecutors to decide what to do when state rules collide with federal drug law. Sessions’ action, just three days after a legalization law went into effect in California, threatened the future of the young industry, created confusion in states where the drug is legal and outraged both marijuana advocates and some members of Congress, including Sessions’ fellow Republicans. Many conservatives are wary of what they see as federal intrusion in areas they believe must be left to the states.” [Associated Press, 1/4/18]
Ramaswamy Repeatedly Said He Was The Best Candidate To Take Over The MAGA Movement From A “Wounded” Trump. According to NBC News, “Vivek Ramaswamy repeatedly described former President Donald Trump as ‘wounded’ on Wednesday and said he was the best candidate to lead the MAGA movement forward as he makes a final attempt to sway Republican voters still enthusiastic about Trump.” [NBC News, 1/3/24]
Ramaswamy Said When It Comes To Trump, “30 Percent Of This Country Becomes Psychiatrically Ill When He’s In The White House.” According to NBC News, “Vivek Ramaswamy has been one of Donald Trump’s staunchest advocates among his Republican presidential rivals. But on Friday, Ramaswamy broached a topic he has recently tried to avoid: why he’s a better choice in 2024 than Trump. At a steakhouse town hall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the 37-year-old biotech entrepreneur made the case that Trump may be too polarizing to advance the Republican agenda. ‘Here’s a reality about my friend, Donald Trump,’ Ramaswamy said. ‘I respect what he did, but it’s just a fact, it’s not even his fault — 30 percent of this country becomes psychiatrically ill when he’s in the White House. ‘I don’t think we will have that same effect on people, and that is how we go further with our own agenda,’ he added.” [NBC News, 7/21/23]
When Asked If He Called Donald Trump A “Sore Loser” In His Book, Ramaswamy Said He Referred To Trump. According to a transcript of Ramaswamy’s appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “[CHUCK TODD] All right. Again, from your book, ‘No one likes a sore loser. That's one of the worst victim complexes of all.’ Are you referring to Donald Trump? [VIVEK RAMASWAMY] I referred in that chapter both to Stacey Abrams and to Donald Trump.” [NBC News, 8/27/23]
Ramaswamy Told Voters That If They Thought Trump Would Get Anywhere Near The White House Again, “I Want You To Open Your Eyes.” According to the New York Times, “In northwestern Iowa on Monday, Vivek Ramaswamy addressed, unprompted, a question that has trailed him throughout his presidential bid: Why should voters choose him instead of Donald J. Trump, the former president whom he routinely and staunchly defends? Rather than breaking with Mr. Trump, who leads Mr. Ramaswamy by 50 points or more in national polls, voters who support Mr. Ramaswamy’s proposals have often recognized his alignment with Mr. Trump on numerous issues. Many suggest instead that Mr. Ramaswamy would make a strong vice president or future president. With under a week until the Iowa caucuses, and as he polls in a distant fourth place in the state, Mr. Ramaswamy has addressed those concerns without wavering in his support for Mr. Trump. ‘If you think they’re going to let this man get anywhere near the White House again, I want you to open your eyes,’ Mr. Ramaswamy told around 20 voters in Le Mars, Iowa. (In recent weeks, he has leaned into conspiracy theories on the campaign trail.)” [New York Times, 1/8/24]
Ramaswamy Said If Trump Was Not Willing To Debate, He Was Not Fit To Be President. According to the Daily Beast, “But Ramaswamy has also attacked Trump—his barbs have just gone mostly unnoticed. At a New Hampshire town hall in May, he not only said ‘Trump better get his butt on the debate stage,’ but argued his failing to do so would effectively disqualify him from the presidency, according to audio of the event obtained by The Daily Beast. ‘My view is, if you’re not willing to sit across the table from NBC News… or across the debate stage from me as the new outsider in this race, if you’re Donald Trump,’ Ramaswamy said, ‘then I don’t think you’re fitted to be the person sitting across the table from [Chinese President] Xi Jinping.’” [Daily Beast, 8/25/23]
Ramaswamy Said Trump Might Be “Scared” Of Debating. According to ABC News, “‘I think that if he doesn't debate, the question is, is he afraid of actually being challenged? And I think the answer is, he might be. I'd like to think he's not,’ GOP primary candidate and political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy told ABC News in an interview. ‘Maybe it'll be politically good for me if Trump doesn't show up on the debate stage because we have an ability to each have more remaining time to make our own case … Frankly, I think he might be scared of being on a debate stage,’ said Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and author.” [ABC News, 5/3/23]