Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy held his own in the recent Republican debate among other hopefuls and, in some polls, has even taken a slight lead over favorite Ron DeSantis.
Of course, all the participants in the debate are showing only slight support, as polls show by far the most support going to President Donald Trump, who gave an interview with Tucker Carlson as the debate was raging. Trump’s interview scored massive viewers and was considered the win of the evening.
But Ramaswamy stood out in the debate, taking exception to the swamp-entrenched others beside him on the stage. Many approved of his showing, and declared that of the attendees at the debate, Ramaswamy took high honors.
Ramaswamy seems to be continuing his vehement opposition to the opinions of career politicians, as he showed during his recent interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.
On Monday, Fox News host Hannity confronted Ramaswamy about his campaign policies and previous statements. Hannity started out by addressing a statement he said Ramaswamy had made, Mediate reports.
Hannity stated, “You said aid to Israel, our number one ally, the only democracy in the region, should end in 2028 and that they should be integrated with their neighbors.”
“That’s false,” Ramaswamy protested.
“That was the exact quote. You want me to read it?” Hannity asked.
“I can tell you the exact quote,” Ramaswamy replied.” What I said is it would be a mark of success if we ever got to a point in our relationship with Israel if Israel never needed the United States’ aid, and Sean, you know how politics is played. A lot of the other professional politicians who have been threatened by my rise have used that statement to say that I would cut off aid to Israel. That’s not correct. I’ve been crystal clear.”
Mediate continued that then, after Hannity asked Ramaswamy whether he understood “the importance of the strategic alliance,” “intelligence sharing in an area of the world where we have a lot of enemies,” and “how important it is with Iran especially seeking nukes,” Ramaswamy responded:
“I understand it I think more deeply than probably anybody in this race. I’ve traveled to Israel. I have business partners in Israel. The reality is this, by the end of my first term our relationship with Israel will be stronger than it ever has been because I will treat it as a true friendship, not just a transactional relationship.”
Hannity pushed, “Then why did you say that they shouldn’t have preferential treatment? Why did you say that Israel should not have preferential treatment from us? That’s a direct quote.”
“No, those are direct quotes from headlines summarized by opposition research fed to the fake news media,” Ramaswamy argued, before claiming that “Abraham Accords 2.0 is my top priority, which is to get Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar into that pact with Israel, and foremost, to have a partnership with Israel that does something really important for the U.S., which is to make sure that Iran never, ever, ever has nuclear capabilities.”
Ramaswamy went on to praise Israel’s policies, saying, “I would love Israel’s border policies in this country. I would love Israel’s tough-on-crime policies and strong national identity in this country. I would love an iron dome-like Israel has to defend itself against Hamas, which is a good thing for Israel. I want something like that here in the United States.”
Ramaswamy then stated his intention to be specific about the matter: “So I don’t read from the traditional GOP talking point binder that’s handed to traditional candidates, that’s true. That lends itself to be misquoted. But it’s actually a much more authentic commitment to Israel on the substance than just checking out the talking point of saying that we stand with Israel. That’s meaningless. I prefer substance.”
Watch the full interview:
Watch the latest video at foxnews.com
Ramaswamy’s fresh “outsider” view of political issues is becoming immensely popular, and while President Trump claims the vast majority of Republican votes, Vivek is gaining momentum, especially with young voters. He is no threat to Trump, but speculation is he could easily be seen in a post in an upcoming Republican administration.
Although Ron DeSantis was seen as the contender to challenge Trump, he is not doing as well as some thought he would. Many in the media claimed Ramaswamy won the debate, with either DeSantis or Nikki Haley in second place. But numbers show the Trump was the winner of the evening in his interview with Carlson.
President Trump, fresh from his recent persecution in Atlanta, posted:
“Rumors are strong in political circles that Ron Sanctimonious, whose presidential run is a shambles, and whose poll numbers have absolutely crashed, putting him 3rd and 4th in some states, will be dropping out of the presidential race in orderr to run, in Florida, against Rick Scott for Senate. Now that’s an interesting one, isn’t it?”
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