Tucker interviews Vivek Ramaswamy
“I didn’t grow up in money. But I had two parents in the house—a mother and a father—with a focus on education and a faith in God. That is the ultimate privilege.” ~ Vivek Ramaswamy
The Blaze held a summit over this past July 15, 2023 weekend where Tucker Carlson interviewed the current field of 2024 Republican Party presidential primary candidates one on one (except Trump).
This post is a quick summary of Tucker’s interview with Vivek Ramaswamy. You can watch the full video here, and I’ve included a 6 minute mashup clip below.
What I heard
Here’s what I heard when I listened to Tucker interview Vivek Ramaswamy.
Vivek don't f with the war. He said the following: “I would negotiate a deal that ends the Ukraine war. Yes, that means giving part of the Donbas region to Russia. I’d make a hard commitment that NATO never admits Ukraine to NATO. And those seem like unspeakable words in certainly the Republican donor class. But we get something greater in return, which is that Putin in that case would have to exit his military partnership with China and remove nuclear weapons from Kaliningrad which borders Poland and get the Russian military out of Cuba and Venezuela and the West. This is a deal Putin should do because he ends up winning; he gets things that he doesn’t have today. But it secures American interests too. I do think in a weird way, it does take an outsider to get that job done. Because, if you want someone to fix a problem, you don’t turn over the keys to somebody who actually broke the thing in the first place. [6:55–8:30]
January 6th arose out of pervasive censorship. After Ukraine, the interview moved to January 6th. Rather than comment on “what” it was, Vivek discussed “why” it happened. Among other things, Vivek said: “You tell people in this country they cannot speak, that is when they scream. You tell people they cannot scream, that is when they tear things down. So the reality is, we were told that you could not question where the virus came from, when we all knew it came from a lab in Wuhan, which now they admit. We were told, that you could not send a private message to someone on the eve of an election that Hunter Biden’s laptop story was actually a true story worth considering before an election. You were systematically suppressed. You were told you had to stay locked down, take a vaccine . . . while Antifa and BLM roam and burn the streets of this country. So that’s the lead up of one full year of telling people you have to shut up, sit down, and do as you’re told. . . That’s what caused January 6th is a cycle of censorship in this country. And until we look ourselves in the mirror and admit truth on that we will not move forward as a country.” [8:40–10:40]
Self-censorship is not democracy. Asked about censorship, Vivek stated that the health of “our democracy” is measured by the percentage of our people that feel free to say publicly what they say and think privately. Based on that metric, he concluded that “our democracy” is unhealthy. [11:00-15:00]
He’s reaching urban citizens. Vivek described campaigning on the south side of Chicago and in other democratic strongholds. Many urban citizens he met seemed hurt by governments prioritizing migrants while they themselves struggle. [16:12–19:25]
Reagan in 1980. Vivek believes a pro American candidate can sweep like Reagan in 1980. “I don’t think the dividing line in our country is between republicans and democrats right now. I think it is between those of us that are pro American—who believe in the ideals of this country, who will not apologize for those ideals, who will stand up and sacrifice for those ideals—and those of us who are . . . anti American, those who wish to apologize for a nation founded on our ideals. But if you divide it up in that way, it’s not 50/50 anymore it’s not even close . . . it’s easily 80/20.” [16:12–19:25]
American citizenship is the key. Vivek advised Republicans to focus on “what it means to be an American today” rather than imprisoning themselves with meaningless labels. To this point, he said: “I don’t even talk about republicans that much anymore, I try not to use the word. Not because it’s a bad word. But because it doesn’t mean anything. If three quarters of the Republican Party has got the same policy as Biden on the most important foreign policy matter of our time. And if . . . people on the south side of Chicago believe in using the military on the southern border and putting the interests of Americans first, I’m not sure those labels are doing much for us now.” [19:27–21:45]
My Thoughts
Imagine combining President Obama’s intellectual and oratory abilities with President Trump’s business and America first instincts. Then imagine packaging those abilities and instincts into a first-generation American citizen, millennial, son of educated Indian immigrant parents—“a mother and a father”—“with a focus on education and a faith in God.”
Now sprinkle in a few things like: nationally-ranked high school tennis player, catholic high school valedictorian, Harvard biology degree, Yale law degree, hedge fund biotech portfolio manager, and pharmaceutical company founder.
Meet Vivek Ramaswamy—an incredibly successful 38 year-old that seems to possess the “The Triple Package.” That is a set of traits that Yale Professor, Amy Chua, has tied to high levels of achievement and success in certain of America’s immigrants communities.
Vivek is different, to me, not only because he is a wealthy, eloquent, millennial, but also because his education-centric, God-guided, first-generation upbringing likely informs where America’s founding ideals, American citizenship, and war with Ukraine rank on his list of priorities.
I can contrast Vivek with the rest of the field with two observations from Tucker’s interview.
First, Vivek isn’t self-censoring his “radical” beliefs on the Ukraine war. For example, he proposed ending the Ukraine war by allowing Putin the pro-Russian Donbas region and ensuring Ukraine cannot join NATO (in exchange for other things). Despite the ideas obvious merit, no other Republican will say that out loud.
Second, Vivek is attempting to appeal to the conservative in all American citizens. For example, after going after government censorship, he recalled his decision to celebrate a pro-choice single mother on stage instead of having her removed for heckling. Unlike candidates past, Vivek is campaigning in majority black areas (e.g., south side of Chicago) and seemingly finding that America First ideals resonate. (I also saw him on the breakfast club.)
In contrast, DeSantis equivocates on Ukraine while Haley, Scott, and Pence all f with the war the long way. None of them show concern for those driven to the nation’s capital on January 6th; and Haley, Scott, and Pence show no concern for the censored. Pence in fact suggested it might be okay to jail and silence pro-Russian religious leaders. Nor did anyone other than Vivek say anything that suggests a desire to appeal to urban black American citizens.
In other words, Vivek is about moving America away from foreign empire wars and toward the needs of her own citizens. Who else but RFK Junior is campaigning like that?
Based on the Tucker interview, I believe Vivek has what it takes to win the Republican nomination and win the Presidency. That is, barring some scandal, I think Vivek has a better chance of winning the Presidency than Trump or any other republican. I’m not saying Vivek will be the Republican Party nominee, but, in my view, he’s got a serious shot.
I still have much to learn about Vivek, and I realize there may be things about his biotech/pharmaceutical past or pandemic positions (see tweet below) that might cause one to ask if he is a Trojan horse of sorts that will change views once elected. I don’t get that sense right now, but time will tell.
Kudos to The Blaze for having Tucker interview the current field of Republican presidential candidates. It’s worth watching the various interviews if you haven’t.