Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy talked about his campaign, America’s future, and his foreign policy positions with Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson on Thursday.
Ramaswamy, a businessman, has risen to political popularity since announcing his presidential campaign. During his interview with Carlson, he said his campaign is focused on fighting back against the “bipartisan consensus” that Americans “can’t handle the truth.”
“I think that there’s a bipartisan consensus in this country right now that we the people, we can’t handle the truth,” Ramaswamy told Carlson. “It’s like Jack Nicholson at the end of movie, right? ‘You can’t handle the truth, you need me on that wall.’ My view, my basic view in this campaign is no, we don’t need you on that wall and yes, we can handle the truth.”
He called for disclosing the truth about the origins of COVID-19, the vaccine, Hunter Biden’s business dealings and the events of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. He also referenced his accusations that the 9/11 commission lied to the American people about the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
The presidential candidate said that people knowing the truth is the basis of America’s founding, and is one that the people must take back from those in power.
“Personally, I think the way I’m running this campaign is I’m not thinking about what’s helping me or not before I say it. So far, at least, that actually — that approach does seem to be helping me. We’re doing alright,” Ramaswamy said. “But even if I weren’t, I’d rather lose some election than to play some political snakes and ladders of what we’re supposed to say. And I think that that’s really one of the questions at issue today as it was in 1776. Do we believe that the public can be trusted with the truth? Whatever the truth is, just give me the hard truth.”
Ep. 17 Vivek Ramaswamy is the youngest Republican presidential candidate ever. He’s worth listening to. pic.twitter.com/9wGqptHdto
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 17, 2023
Ramaswamy said the government does not want the people to know the truth about the Ukraine war, which he warned will likely be a repetition of Vietnam or Iraq. The candidate has been critical of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his alleged treatment of Jews and religious minorities. Zelenskyy himself is Jewish. Ramaswamy has also been critical of the Ukrainian president removing political parties tied to Russia and forcing all national TV channels to join a state-sponsored TV service under martial law. (RELATED: ‘Lied From The Beginning’: RFK Jr Discusses JFK Assassination, Ukraine War With Tucker Carlson)
“One of my advantages is that I am not, some people say well, ‘you don’t have foreign policy experience,’ and I’ll say ‘yes, I don’t have foreign policy experience and that may actually be an advantage in bringing a rational, American—'”
“So you’re not responsible for the war in Iraq and that’s a bad thing,” Carlson said.
“Yeah, well, I think we can debate whether it’s a bad thing or not, but if you break the car, you don’t turn over the keys to the guy that broke it,” Ramaswamy replied. “That’s what I would say. And so, I think that we are on our way to Ukraine turning into another Iraq or another Vietnam all over again, except this time I think could be worse because there’s nuclear weapons at issue.”
The candidate called to create “an iron dome” on U.S. national defense, establish semi-conductor independence and reduce economic reliance on China.
Regarding America’s short-term future, Ramaswamy warned the U.S. is “on the cusp of a major economic downturn” due to not having the number of people with the sufficient skill sets to fill the vacant job openings in the labor market. He added an economic drop would likely lead to a deep distrust in American institutions.
He also addressed a viral moment where a woman identifying as “pansexual” questioned his LGBTQ stance. The candidate told the woman while he does not discriminate against same-sex couples, he opposes the “tyranny of the minority,” which he said has led to biological males competing against women and non-consensually entering their locker rooms.
Ramaswamy told Carlson the modern LGBTQ movement is a “religious cult,” making people justify their beliefs despite them disconnected from logic.
“These are cult-like belief systems. Right, because if it’s a religious cult, then you don’t have any obligation to logic if you’re subscribing to a religion,” he said. “And the worst religions are the ones that fail to recognize themselves as religions … The most dangerous religions of all are those that claim to be secular but are actually religious in their conviction.”