Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy claimed the establishment was supporting fellow candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to keep the “war machine humming.”
In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Ramaswamy was asked about the “subtext” he was picking up on regarding the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election.
“I’ve been convinced for a long time, Tucker, that this was not going to be a standard Trump versus Biden race,” Ramaswamy said. “There have just been enough staring you in the face that made that obvious. Right? You start with the trials, and the civil trials, and the prosecutions, and then they go to the non-prosecution and illegal removals from a ballot without trial on the Trump side.”
You thought Democrats were going to dump Biden for Gavin Newsom, but they're not. They're backing Nikki Haley instead. pic.twitter.com/KcpNMFdZAm
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 3, 2024
“The thing that fascinated me about the Biden side of this, though, is you also see some of the same dynamics,” Ramaswamy added. “The documents case for Biden trotting itself out after years, long ago in the Senate, you see a lot of other things with Biden. Why is the Hunter stuff coming out now when this has been known for seven years?”
Ramaswamy admitted he initially thought the bipartisan establishment would trot out Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) or former First Lady Michelle Obama as a candidate for president to take President Joe Biden’s place.
“That’s where I thought this was going,” Ramaswamy continued. “It was not what was meeting the eye, for sure. I think what’s become clear to me now – I’m in the thick of this GOP primary, is that the real puppet they’re trotting out isn’t Gavin Newsom, it isn’t Michelle Obama. I was wrong about that, actually.”
Rather than go with Newsom or the former first lady as a presidential candidate, the establishment found a “much more convenient puppet within the Republican Party,” Ramaswamy revealed, adding that it was Haley herself.
“I think that if you just follow exactly who are the very people who are paying to keep Donald Trump off the ballot, or funding the lawsuits that keep Trump off the ballot….” Ramaswamy continued. “Who are these people propping up? It’s not Biden. And, it’s not even Gavin Newsom. It’s Nikki Haley within the Republican Party itself. And, I think that that makes for a very convenient frontman because then they actually have absolved themselves from any allegations of partisanship – or democratic partisanship against Donald Trump.”
Ramaswamy has trailed behind Trump, Haley, and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) in several polls, including a recent one from USA Today/Suffolk University, one from Morning Consult, and a poll from The Economist/YouGov.
During the Republican presidential debates, Ramaswamy clashed with Haley. In the most recent debate, Ramaswamy held up a sign that said “Nikki = Corrupt” and slammed her “authenticity.”
During the third debate, the two clashed in a heated exchange surrounding the social media app, TikTok. Ramaswamy took things to a personal level by mentioning Haley’s daughter, to which she instructed him, “Leave my daughter out of your voice!” She later told Ramaswamy he was “just scum.”
Ramaswamy also took aim at Haley during the third debate by labeling her as “Dick Cheney in three-inch heels.”
The pair traded barbs with each other during the second GOP presidential debate when Haley told Ramaswamy she feels “dumber” each time she hears him speak.
During the first GOP presidential debate, Haley informed Ramaswamy that he had “no foreign policy experience” regarding the topic of Ukraine.