Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, right, and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, square off during a civil debate at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics Wednesday.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy got a pleasant surprise late Wednesday when first-term State Rep. Cyril Aures, R-Chichester, right, walked in front of the cameras to declare he was ending his support for GOP rival Ron DeSantis and was backing Ramaswamy.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, right, and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, square off during a civil debate at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics Wednesday.
Two of the America’s best-known Indian-American politicians — conservative Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and liberal California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna — faced off for a civil debate over a variety of key issues here Wednesday.
The pair traded their views on the economy, foreign affairs, political reform, climate change and the future of America, sharing the stage at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics on the campus of Saint Anselm College in Goffstown.
Ramaswamy, 38, a wealthy, self-made entrepreneur, parlayed his best-selling book, “Woke Inc.” and a high-energy campaign to position himself among the top half dozen GOP rivals running in 2024.
Khanna, 47, was a co-chairman of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign in 2020 who coined the phrase “economic patriotism.”
Many political observers believe will one day this will become his own rallying cry as a future presidential candidate.
A keynote speaker to a New Hampshire Democratic Party dinner last May, Khanna urged President Biden not to skip the New Hampshire primary and said the state should continue to have the first-in-the-nation primary.
Khanna was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ramaswamy in Cincinnati, Ohio, both to India-born parents who immigrated to the U.S.
“I want to stop getting confused at airports for you; hopefully this will clear that up,” Khanna joked to Ramaswamy.
During the event, Ramaswamy offered many of his familiar campaign lines.
These included opposition to military interventionism, an assault on the federal “administrative state” and a celebration of the American free market.
“People are going to be more successful in this country if they are making more money,” Ramaswamy said.
Khanna: Too many ‘beat up’ civil servants
Khanna responded that Ramaswamy was wrong by calling for the elimination of thousands of federal agency workers.
“The role of the government to rebuild industry that has been hollowed out in places like Colebrook, Berlin, Manchester. Why did that happen? It was because other governments were willing to fight for those jobs with more investment,” Khanna said.
He later added, “Too many people in this country are beating up civil servants.”
Ramaswamy said he would move much of spending for federal personnel such as $80 billion for the federal Department of Education back to local communities to spend more wisely.
“The question is a bureaucracy comprised of good people still so wasteful that it would have the American people holding the bag,” Ramaswamy said.
On climate change, Ramaswamy said the cure for warming temperatures is worse than the disease.
“Are the climate change policies hurting us more than climate change itself? I believe that they are,” Ramaswamy said.
Khanna accused Ramaswamy of being obsessed with expanded use of fossil fuels.
“New Hampshire pays $70 more a month on electric bills than any other New England state. How? You rely the most on natural gas,” Khanna said.
“Why not rely on a technology based on its impact?”
Ramaswamy said new technologies have led to lower energy costs such as fracking and horizontal drilling for oil.
Ramaswamy: ‘My goal is to lead at home’
The two did generally come together on campaign finance reform, supporting the elimination of Super PACs making donations to candidates, setting lower contribution limits, and creating more transparency around where a candidate gets their financial support.
Khanna favored providing more federal aid for Ukraine to fight its war against Russia while Ramaswamy questioned the essential national interest the U.S. has there and criticized Ukraine’s past of corruption.
“Just because Russia is bad doesn’t mean Ukraine is good,” Ramaswamy said.
On Israel, Ramaswamy said the U.S. needs to back that country’s right to a national defense but avoid getting trapped in a quagmire.
“My goal is not to lead in the Middle East; my goal is to lead at home,” Ramaswamy said.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy got a pleasant surprise late Wednesday when first-term State Rep. Cyril Aures, R-Chichester, right, walked in front of the cameras to declare he was ending his support for GOP rival Ron DeSantis and was backing Ramaswamy.
Khanna said the U.S. has failed to consistently push for a twin-state solution that includes an independent Israel and Palestine.
He also chastised Ramaswamy for defending the right of Israel to put the heads of Hamas leaders on stakes.
“Why would you want to fan the flames?” Khanna asked rhetorically.
The event was unique since more than half the crowd were Democratic activists, most absent from such gatherings because for months there was no Democratic contest and Biden was not on the New Hampshire ballot.
House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm and Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy, both of Manchester attended along with Manchester mayoral candidate Kevin Cavanaugh.
Former state Sen. Peggy Gilmour, a Hollis Democratic, said she learned more about Ramaswamy.
“He’s a lot less wacky than I thought. I guess that’s why you go to things like this,” Gilmour said.
Former Executive Councilor and 2020 Democratic candidate for governor Andru Volinsky said candidate debate sponsors should take notice.
“What if the candidate debates were like this, a real conversation between them? Wouldn’t we all benefit from that more than what the RNC (Republican National Committee) has fed us?” Volinsky asked.
Ramaswamy got a pleasant surprise after the event with first-term state Rep. Cyril Aures, R-Chichester, leaving the camp of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to join Ramaswamy’s team.
“I am tired of the Republican Party candidates breaking the 11th Commandment, too much attacking good people,” Aures said.
“Vivek is working through the problems, giving America substantive solutions. This is what the country needs.”
James Pindell with The Boston Globe moderated the event.
