(ConservativeSense.com) – GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy appeared on Fox News on Sunday and pushed back against questions about why he doesn’t seem to ever criticize former President Donald Trump.
Host Shannon Bream pointed out to Ramaswamy that he did condemn Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, posting a tweet stating that what Trump did “was wrong” and “downright abhorrent.” She then noted how Ramaswamy is receiving “a lot of criticism” for “not taking direct shots” at Trump and is being accused of “not actually” running against the former president. Bream also mentioned Ramaswamy’s statements that if he became president, he would probably pardon Trump.
Bream mentioned Trump possibly facing more federal charges related to Jan. 6, noted Ramaswamy’s tweet about the events of that day, and then asked Ramaswamy why he “and the other candidates” are “now so quick to defend” Trump and if they were “worried” about backlash from the former president.
Ramaswamy answered by claiming he’s “been consistent all along” that there are judgments Trump made that he would have made differently, but that “a bad judgment” isn’t “the same thing as a crime.” The GOP candidate then described the indictment of the former president as politically motivated and compared the current state of U.S. politics to “a banana republic.”
A couple of weeks ago, Piers Morgan also asked Ramaswamy when he would “start swinging” at the former president. Ramaswamy replied that although other candidates are “in this race” to air their grievances, he wants to “actually lead” the nation “to a better place” than it is currently.
Despite this remark, Ramaswamy certainly doesn’t have a problem criticizing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, which he’s done on multiple occasions. DeSantis remains Trump’s top competitor for the Republican nomination.
Ramaswamy is beginning to poll higher than former Vice President Mike Pence in early state visits, working hard to get his message out there. One of his central messages is how to deal with “woke ideology” on the left, which he describes as indicative of an “identity crisis” in the country, and that the way forward is to unify under a national identity rather than focusing on identity politics.
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