Upstart Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said the quiet part out loud, declaring that Russia taking over Ukraine is not a “top foreign policy priority” for his campaign — or for America.
In an appearance on Sunday’s “This Week,” host Martha Raddatz asked: “You do not believe that Russia taking over Ukraine would be bad for our national interest?”
“I do not think that’s a top foreign policy priority for us. I don’t think it is preferable for Russia to be able to invade a sovereign country that’s its neighbor, but I think the job of the U.S. president is to look after American interests,” Ramaswamy said.
Instead, Ramaswamy said he would focus on the true threat, China, and its growing relationship with Russia.
“I would end this war in return for pulling Putin out of that treaty with China,” Ramaswamy said. “What I think we need to do is end the Ukraine war on peaceful terms that, yes, do make some major concessions to Russia, including freezing the current lines of control … and also a permanent commitment not to allow Ukraine to enter NATO,” he said.
“But in return, Russia has to leave its treaty and its joint military agreement with China. That better advances American interests and actually further deters China from going after Taiwan, which I think is a much higher priority for the United States,” the 37-year-old entrepreneur said.
Raddatz was dismissive, saying, “Let me ask you this, you want to be commander in chief. So, how would you decide what is in the national interest to use the U.S. military? What would the criteria be?”
“What affects the lives of Americans here on American soil? Where are there military threats? Where are there threats to life here in the United States?” Ramaswamy said. “I think the border crisis. Two hundred Americans dying per day from the fentanyl crisis, 50 times the number that died on 9/11. That’s an American interest.”
“Semiconductor security. That’s an American interest, which is why Taiwan matters in a way that Ukraine doesn’t,” he continued. “But I believe in America first principles, as George Washington did, by the way, avoiding foreign entanglements when unnecessary unless they’re essential for American interests. I share the George Washington vision of America first.”
Raddatz also dismissed Ramaswamy’s campaign so far, saying he is “way, way down there” in presidential polls. But the candidate was ready for that.
“In June of 2015, Donald Trump was polling at four percent in eighth place. I’m happy to say that we’re ahead of that and I think we’re going to take that same trajectory,” he said.
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“I’m the outsider in this race. I think you get to be an outsider once. I’m the first millennial ever to run for the GOP nomination for U.S. president. And I’m actually leading us to something. Too long many other conservatives have been running from something. I’m running to something. What it actually means to be an American,” Ramaswamy said.
“I’m an America first conservative, but I believe that to put America first, we need to rediscover what America is. And I’m seeing the base across this country hungry for that message. And that’s how we’re going to win,” he said.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.