GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said if he fails to clinch the Republican Party’s nomination for the highest office in the land, he isn’t going to settle for the second-in-command.
Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur from Ohio, made the comments on Saturday during an interview on Fox News’s “Cavuto Live” with host Neil Cavuto.
“Donald Trump and I share something in common and that is that neither of us does well in a number 2 position,” Ramaswamy said when asked if he’d be willing to accept a VP offer. “I’m built to actually lead the organizations that I’ve built, and I think that, when I’m looking at the federal government, my greatest contribution, Neil – and one of my goals being to reunite this country – I’m going to be in the best position to get that done if I’m doing that from the top job.”
“I’m not interested in a different position in the government,” he added. “Frankly, I’d drive change through the private sector sooner than becoming a number 2 or a number 3 in the federal government.”
2024 presidential candidate @VivekGRamaswamy (R) tells Neil he would turn down an offer to run as Vice President: “I’ve been very clear. I’m not interested in a different position in the government.” pic.twitter.com/p42Ayl5fxA
— Neil Cavuto (@TeamCavuto) August 19, 2023
When Cavuto mentioned the vice presidency being a “heartbeat away” from the presidency and explicitly asked Ramaswamy if he would turn the position down if offered, the presidential candidate said he would.
Ramaswamy went on to explain his decision, saying that his campaign isn’t about a “quest for personal power” but about “reviving our missing national identity” and reaching younger generations with his message – something he says he can only do from the top job.
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Former President Trump currently leads the Republican field for president, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Ramaswamy, according to the RealClear Politics average of polls. However, in recent weeks, Ramaswamy – who was largely politically unknown prior to his campaign – appears to be rising in some polls.
“We’re doing well, Neil, because I am speaking the truth in an unapologetic way,” Ramaswamy told Cavuto regarding his rise. “I began at 0.0% in the polls in March, I’m now in second place in many of the polls coming out over the weekend,” he added, saying that instead of focusing on what the Republican Party is “running from,” he plans on focusing on what the party is “running to.”
Other Republican candidates, including DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, have made similar comments regarding the vice presidency. When asked whether he would be Trump’s running mate if it came down to it, DeSantis told the “Wisconsin Right Now” radio show in July, “I don’t think so, I’m not a No. 2 guy.”
Haley, in an interview with POLITICO, said, “I think everybody that says, ‘She’s doing this to be vice president,’ needs to understand I don’t run for second.”