Ramaswamy, confronted by voter in Exeter, says outsider from 'next generation' is needed
EXETER — Vivek Ramaswamy defended his qualifications and presidential aspirations Saturday after a voter compared his public office inexperience to pre-2017 Donald Trump.
The audience member at the historic Exeter Town Hall stated Ramaswamy isn’t fit to be the principal of her child’s school nor a town selectman, let alone the leader of the free world. She also told him, in part, "you express illogical and dangerous positions with just about everything under the sun."
Ramaswamy responded by addressing the “fundamental skepticism” voters have when a political outsider seeks office. Ramaswamy said the existing political system is a “super PAC puppet game” and candidates are controlled by affluent donors.
“I do think it will take an outsider to that system to break that system,” he said. “One of the things that we need to stop apologizing for in this country is the power of capitalism. I have succeeded not in government. I will not feign to have government experience I don’t have. But the people who do have government experience in some ways got us into this mess that we’re in today. I think that we live in a moment where it will take an outsider … ideally even someone who comes from the next generation, to reach the next generation.”
Ramaswamy makes case his youth is a strength
Ramaswamy’s pitch to prospective New Hampshire Republican primary voters on Saturday called for addressing the nation’s debt, declaring economic independence from China, and looking to restore national pride.
The 38-year-old entrepreneur candidate was the last of five GOP presidential contenders to speak at town hall forums this week presented by Seacoastonline and the Paste BN Network.
“If you want somebody who has government experience as their qualification to be your next president, then I’m not your candidate. But if you want someone who comes from the outside, a patriot who speaks the truth uncaptured by the super PACS, willing to get in there and actually gut that shadowy government … then yes I am your candidate,” Ramaswamy added.
The White House hopeful hit back against a voter comparing Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler, with the voter stating his belief that the country’s leader wishes to carry out a holocaust of the Palestinian people.
Ramaswamy called the comparison “offensive” and feels Israel has every right to defend its homeland, with America backing the country.
Looking ahead to 2030, assuming he wins the presidency next fall and is re-elected four years later, Ramaswamy hopes to have the federal employee headcount reduced by 75%, for the nation to be drilling, fracking and burning coal, and have low unemployment levels.
“I'm the youngest person ever to run for U.S. president as a Republican,” he said Saturday. “The thing about my generation is that we grew up over 10-20 years where we were taught to celebrate our diversity and our differences, so much that we forgot all of the ways that we are all really the same as Americans, bound by that common set of ideals. I believe that deep in my bones that those ideals still exist, but we’re going to have to do the hard work of rediscovering them.”
What voters say about Ramaswamy
Sudheer and Veena Gaddam traveled from Columbus, Ohio, Ramaswamy’s hometown, to visit their son at Phillips Exeter Academy’s Family Weekend. It just so happened their preferred presidential candidate was speaking in town.
The two exited the old Town Hall feeling even more impressed with Ramaswamy.
On what she most enjoys of his message, Veena Gaddam said, “Putting your nation before tending to other nations.”
Phillips Exeter Academy student Dushan Lohano appreciates seeing an Indian-American in the race for the White House and prefers Ramaswamy for his youth, relative to other Republican candidates.
“He has really good views and is a really nice person,” Lohano said. “And he has a good business mindset.”
Exeter resident Minzhi Liu currently prefers former United Nations ambassador and ex-South Carolina governor Nikki Haley among Republican presidential candidates. However, she hasn't made up her mind about Ramaswamy and feels he could further prove himself.
“You really need the experience of being a commander in chief,” she said. “He is definitely new blood, has new ideas and ability, but I want to see more.”
Ramaswamy’s most recent polling average in New Hampshire was 7.2%, fifth among Republican presidential candidates, per RealClear Politics.