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Vivek Ramaswamy on why he supports Trump: ‘If I am the president, I will pardon him because…’

Vivek Ramaswamy's comments came after a new opinion poll revealed that he is in the fourth spot in terms of popularity rating after Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley.

Republican presidential hopeful Vivek RamaswamyRepublican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during a campaign stop in Hampton, New Hampshire. (AP)
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Indian-American Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Sunday that if he were elected as the President of the United States in the 2024 elections, he would pardon former President Donald Trump.

“If Donald Trump’s the nominee — yes, I will support him, and if I’m the President, yes, I will pardon him because that will help reunite the country. But it’s not the most important thing I’m going to do as the next President. It is the table stakes for moving this country forward,” Ramaswamy told ABC News.


Trump is currently facing a slew of charges related to election interference, mishandling of classified documents, and falsifying business records. He has been criminally indicted four times, a first for a former US President.

Dismissing the charges against Trump as politically motivated, Ramaswamy said, “I do not want to see us become a banana republic where the administrative police state uses police force to eliminate opponents from the competition. That’s not the way it works.”

His comments came after a new opinion poll released by The Wall Street Journal revealed that Ramaswamy is in the fourth spot in terms of popularity rating after Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley.

Speaking on his choice for the top post, Ramaswamy said that he believes any Republican would be better for American progress than any Democrat.

“My bottom line is that I will vote for the person who I think is best positioned to move this country forward. I do not think that’s Joe Biden. I do not think that is whichever other puppet, Kamala Harris or anybody else, that they roll out after Joe Biden,” he said.

“That is my arbitrator when I cast my vote for who the next president is — who’s going to serve the interests of the American people? That’s not some sort of commitment driven by vengeance or grievance. It is driven by a commitment to our purpose as citizens of this country… That’s what we need to revive in the United States, our civic spirit, remembering that even the ‘America First’ movement is bigger than Donald Trump. It is bigger than me. It is bigger than one political candidate,” he said.

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The 38-year-old tech entrepreneur is the only Republican candidate to endorse Trump publicly. During the GOP debate in August, he had termed Trump the “best President of the 21st century.” Following this, Trump had said Ramaswamy would make a “very good” Vice President.

“He (Vivek Ramaswamy) is a very, very, very intelligent person. He’s got good energy, and he could be some form of something,” Trump said during a phone interview. “I tell you, I think he’d be very good,”

When asked if he thought Ramaswamy would make a good VP, Trump said, “Well I think he’s great. Look, anybody that said I’m the best President in the generation… he has said it a couple of times… I have to like a guy like that… I can’t get upset with him,” Trump said.

“He’s a smart guy. He’s a young guy, he has got a lot of talent,” Trump said.

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