Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramasqamy says that former President Donald Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021, do not amount to a crime.
Ramaswamy argued as much during an appearance Sunday on the Fox News Channel's Fox News Sunday with host Shannon Bream.
There, the two got on the subject of the Capitol protests of Jan. 6, 2021, including Trump's alleged role in those protests. And, they did so after Ramaswamy was asked about the criticism that he has been receiving for not criticizing Trump.
Ramaswamy has continued to support Trump despite the fact that he is running against Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Ramaswamy, at one point, even promised to pardon Trump, back when Trump was indicated for the alleged mishandling of classified documents.
At one point during the interview, Bream asked Ramaswamy why it is that he is "so quick to defend" Trump. Ramaswamy responded by disagreeing with the premise of Bream's question.
"I’ve been consistent all along that I would have made different judgments than Donald Trump made – that is why I’m running in this race for the presidency – the same race that he’s in - because I would have made different and, I believe, better judgments for the country," Ramaswamy replied.
"But," Ramaswamy continued, "a bad judgment is not the same thing as a crime, and, when we conflate the two, that sets a dangerous precedent for this country."
Here, Ramaswamy said that he does not want America to become "some banana republic where the party in power uses police force to arrest its political opponents."
Ramaswamy said, "Self-interestedly it would be much easier for me to win this election if Trump were not the front-runner – if Trump were eliminated by the federal administrative police state. But that’s not the right thing for the country."
Ramaswamy has managed to garner enough support to move him into third place in the race for the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nomination.
Real Clear Politics currently has Ramaswamy polling, on average, at 5.9%. But, the Republican frontrunner, Trump, stands at 51%.
Ramaswamy announced, over the weekend, that he has qualified for the first GOP debate that will take place in August. He did so by meeting both the debate's polling and donor requirements.
Ramaswamy says that he has more than 65,000 unique donors and that he has been polling at well over the required 1% in at least three qualifying national polls.
For a venture capitalist turned politician, Ramaswamy is doing extremely well for himself. Still, like every other Republican presidential candidate, it would appear that he stands no real chance against Trump.
