MANCHESTER — Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says he can complete the agenda of Donald Trump by coming into office with a “clean slate.”
During an interview with editors at the Union Leader on Friday, Ramaswamy, 38, refused to criticize Trump’s management style, but said if elected he would be poised to be more successful.
“I am in this to revive this country. Your job is more difficult as commander in chief if 30% of the country will not accept what you are saying,” Ramaswamy said of Trump. “I bring a clean slate to the table.”
Ramaswamy said the battle over who will be the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is irrelevant unless those who seek the job articulate conservative policies.
“I think neither party today has principles; we have parties that have talking points,” Ramaswamy said.
“What we really need is someone in the party to stand up and say this is what I stand for.”
Ramaswamy, an Ohio biotech entrepreneur, said he’s an outsider who can broaden appeal beyond the traditional GOP base.
“I view myself as an America-first conservative who is using the Republican party as a vehicle to advance the agenda. I am not a party man,” Ramaswamy said.
Author of the best-seller “Woke Inc.” two years ago, and an attack on the political correctness movement, Ramaswamy said the biggest threat facing the nation is “an anti-American spirit that pervades nearly every institution.”
“We are in the middle of a kind of war in this country.”
He contends the national Democratic Party has become captive to a small, radical minority of activists who hate America.
“They have managed to wrest control over our universities, K-12 schools, much of corporate America including Silicon Valley and Wall Street and much of our other institutions and the military as well,” he said.
By contrast, Ramaswamy said, “an overwhelming majority of us … share our national values: meritocracy, free speech, open debate, the rule of law, self-government.”
Ramaswamy said 40% of his campaign contributors are giving to a Republican candidate for the first time.
“The average, new donor base is 2% to 3%,” Ramaswamy said. “It is important to reunite this country in the eight years while I am in office.”
Among the Republican candidates, Ramaswamy stands out as the most vocal opponent to additional U.S. support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
“We are at risk of chancing major conflict with the major two armed nuclear powers for something that neither advances our American interest or defends a bastion of democracy,” Ramaswamy said
Called Ukraine corrupt
He called Ukraine “one of the most corrupt nations on planet Earth.”
Ramaswamy said the “broad strokes” of a peace deal would be to assure Russia that Ukraine will not be allowed entry into NATO.
In exchange, Russia must sever its military relationship with China, he said.
“I believe that I am by far the candidate who has offered the clearest path to an end to conflict,” Ramaswamy said.
Ramaswamy said he is optimistic most voters will consider him old enough and wise enough to be elected president.
“That’s for the people of this country to decide, including the people of New Hampshire,” he said.
A short time later Ramaswamy added, “I think I will be less well equipped to lead this country if I would be 20 years more experienced.”
He said there would be an “extra particular need” for him to surround himself with experienced advisers, including those who disagree or would challenge his views.
Ramaswamy reacted angrily when asked to respond to GOP presidential rivals Nikki Haley and Tim Scott who both questioned his commitment to an America First approach since he made some of his personal wealth by doing business with China.
“You were in business with the Chinese that gave Hunter Biden $5 million. We can’t trust you,” Haley said during the second presidential debate last month.
“That’s trash and it is projecting their own lack of morals,” Ramaswamy answered.
He said most successful American CEOs have visited China and explored business contacts there, he said.
“I saw the risks of doing business with them,” Ramaswamy said, noting he took business from China off the table for Strive, an asset management company that he launched last year.
“Have I had experiences earlier in my life that informed my actions in recent years? Absolutely I have,” Ramaswamy said.
“Contrast that to Nikki Haley. As governor she invited Chinese companies to South Carolina and bragged about it. As UN ambassador she once referred to China as our ‘good friend.’
“If you ask me, I think that is disqualifying as being qualified to be the next U.S. president.”
