Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, one in every of Donald Trump’s competitors within the 2024 race and one of the most former president’s greatest defenders on the path, stated Sunday that whilst he would have made other judgments than Trump referring to Jan. 6 and the dealing with of labeled paperwork — the ones selections should not be grounds for prosecution.
“I do draw a distinction, George, between bad behavior and illegal behavior,” Ramaswamy stated in an interview with ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos. “And once we start conflating those two things, I think we’re in a long, downward slide as a country.”
Ramaswamy used to be again and again pressed by means of Stephanopoulos about disagreeing with a few of Trump’s behavior — and which movements specifically he disagreed with — whilst nonetheless backing the previous president.
Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and commentator, has been thrust into the highlight since getting into the race for the White House early this 12 months. He has outlined his platform by means of promising to embody and make bigger Trump’s insurance policies.
He has additionally dedicated to pardoning Trump if he is elected president and temporarily raised his hand all the way through the primary GOP number one debate when requested if he would vote for Trump if Trump is convicted.
“Can you just explain why you would vote for a convicted felon for president?” Stephanopoulos requested on Sunday.
“I expect to be the next nominee, and that’s why I’m running for president. But I also intend to keep the [loyalty] pledge that I made,” Ramaswamy spoke back.
When Stephanopoulos adopted up, Ramaswamy sought to push aside the indictments in opposition to Trump as “outright, downright politicized persecutions,” which prosecutors reject.
Trump is charged in 4 circumstances and has pleaded not to blame in each and every.
“I’m in this race because I believe I can lead us forward and reunite this country. But if it’s not me as the nominee, I still expect that Donald Trump or whoever the Republican nominee will be better than the alternative,” Ramaswamy stated.
Stephanopoulos requested about when Ramaswamy in 2021 described Trump’s movements round Jan. 6 as “abhorrent” and what explicit selections he used to be criticizing.
Ramaswamy first of all pivoted his resolution, keeping up that “systematic censorship was the true cause of what happened that day” and bringing up different problems together with COVID-19 restrictions and Hunter Biden’s scandals.
When Stephanopoulos drilled down, Ramaswamy stated he do not need steered supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol, as Trump did two years in the past — even though Ramaswamy additionally famous Trump at one level known as for non violent demonstrations — and he do not need counseled competing however unauthorized slates of electors ahead of Congress, an alleged felony scheme detailed in two of Trump’s indictments.
“I disagree with a lot of what he did that day. I said so at the time,” Ramaswamy stated, including, “But that is still different for saying that he should be prosecuted for it, which I think sets a dangerous precedent.”
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks all the way through a marketing campaign forestall on Sept. 1, 2023, in Hampton, N.H.
Reba Saldanha/AP
On Trump’s different federal indictment, for allegedly mishandling and refusing to go back executive secrets and techniques whilst out of place of job, Ramaswamy once more stated that he would have acted in a different way however did not imagine the rest unlawful used to be accomplished.
“I’ll come back to a simple theme, and I hope I can make this clear for you: There’s a difference between a bad judgment and a crime,” he stated.
“It would be easier for me if Donald Trump were eliminated from competition. That is why it’s particularly important for me to state with clarity that on principle, I’m still against seeing him eliminated that way,” Ramaswamy stated. “And that’s why I have been so vocal about this.”
Stephanopoulos adopted as much as say: “You find his actions abhorrent around Jan. 6, you said he was wrong to take the classified information, you said you would not do that yourself. But you still say you would vote for him for president. That’s what I don’t get.”
Ramaswamy spoke back that “I said what every Republican nominee said to make it on that debate stage, that we will actually support the Republican nominee from our party.”
More widely, he insisted that his focal point is on the longer term and on turning in Republican priorities, together with “go[ing] further than Trump in advancing that America first agenda.”
Ramaswamy additionally argued that there used to be an “obsession,” in tradition and within the media, with “looking backwards” at one individual — at Trump — “as opposed to talking about what we need to talk about.” He known as {that a} hindrance to shifting the rustic ahead to nationwide team spirit.
Stephanopoulos driven again: “Sir, that man is the front-runner for the Republican nomination right now. He’s a former president of the United States. He’s leading you by 40 points [in the polls]. Yet you still say you would vote for him despite what you say about his behavior. That’s the question I am asking. It’s not an obsession.”
Ramaswamy stated he deliberate to vote for Trump “just as I expect him to vote for me when I’m the nominee.”
“If I’m expecting and deciding between the nominee, even though I disagree with many of my rivals in the Republican Party on a lot of issues, I think any of them will be better than Joe Biden or Kamala Harris to move this nation forward,” he stated.
He persevered: “That is my arbitrator when I cast my vote for who the next president is — who’s going to serve the interests of the American people?”
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