Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy warned during a Monday interview with Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson that the recent attack on Israel could be replicated in the United States.
The death toll has exceeded 900 as of Monday after Islamic terrorist organization Hamas launched a coordinated strike into Israel at daybreak on Saturday. To protect the U.S., Ramaswamy said officials should learn from Israel’s mistakes.
“We could have far worse or the equivalent happen right here at home. I mean, other things that nobody’s talking about, Tucker … We don’t have an Iron Dome in this country,” Ramaswamy said, referring to an Israeli missile defense system. “Yet, we’re vulnerable to nuclear missile attacks any given day and we’re marching closer to nuclear conflict in multiple parts of the world. Most notably with Russia.”
“That’s where my own outrage is highest, is our own vulnerability right here in the homeland, and I do not think that it is crass. I think it is the morally correct answer for leaders of nations to ask how they protect the interests of their nation,” he said later in the interview. “That comes with allies. And so I think it is important not to create an equivalence between Hamas and Israel, as some on the American left and European left are trying to do. It is wrong what happened to Israel, and I called that out as a human being and as someone that is of a belief that some people are on the right side or wrong side of a conflict.”
Ep. 29 After the Hamas attacks, what’s the wise path forward? pic.twitter.com/AwWkcLFUBb
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 9, 2023
He also called for securing the U.S.-Mexico border, cutting off funds for wars that “should have been avoided,” and a renewed focus on “what advances American interests.”
Ramaswamy suggested that intelligence failures by both Israel and the U.S. gave Hamas the opportunity to attack.
“There’s one element of this that nobody’s talking about. What the hell went wrong with U.S. and Israeli intelligence and Israeli defense that allowed this to happen?” Ramaswamy began. “Everybody seems to be punting that as a question for later. I think it’s a question for now if you’re Israel. Look, I think Nikki Haley…I think she is somebody, who is like many politicians, in a position to get wealthier from war. Look at the military contracting business and otherwise.” (RELATED: ‘Play Some Political Snakes And Ladders’: Ramaswamy Talks Campaign, America’s Future And Foreign Policy With Tucker)
When Carlson accused Republican presidential candidates of showing more outrage at the situation in Israel than at the rise in drug overdose deaths in the U.S., Ramaswamy agreed, arguing that neither party has shown sufficient outrage over the issue.
“There is no level of moral outrage — forget the Democratic Party, I’ve written that one off — in the Republican Party,” Ramaswamy said in response.