GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he wouldn’t have nominated fake electors to help contest the 2020 race if put in Trump’s shoes.
Driving the news: Ramaswamy said “bad judgments” were made in regard to former President Trump’s alleged fake electors scheme to subvert the 2020 election results while speaking to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week.”
What they’re saying: “Frankly, if I were the U.S. president, I would have never let it get to that place,” Ramaswamy said.
“We had systematic suppression of information. We had systematic COVID mandates, which I think actually created a lot of the frustration that led up to January 6 that was pent up,” Ramaswamy said.
When asked if he thought it was wrong for Trump to “encourage the mob to storm the Capitol,” Ramaswamy disagreed with the characterization, saying Trump encouraged “peaceful protest” on Jan. 6.
Yes, but: Ramaswamy’s comments echoed his enthusiasm at the first GOP presidential primary debate surrounding his commitment to support Trump as the Republican nominee, even if the former president is convicted in any of his four ongoing criminal cases.
Zoom out: Ramaswamy has had to backpedal on previous comments he made about Trump’s actions on Jan. 6.
Pressed by @GStephanopoulos on Trump’s actions around Jan. 6, GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says, “I would have handled that situation very differently than Trump did.”
“But I do draw a distinction between bad behavior and illegal behavior.” https://t.co/KInxWHwCkT pic.twitter.com/T6nHXYS696
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 3, 2023