Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy responded Monday to a series of criticisms from the media and left about some of his positions stated during the first GOP primary debate on Fox News and the days that followed..
Ramaswamy told "Hannity" at one point that the press has routinely misstated or mischaracterized much of his stances that have resulted in controversy.
Over the weekend, Ramaswamy clashed with CNN host Dana Bash about his critique of Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Democratic "Squad" member from Boston.
Ramaswamy had quoted Pressley's 2019 comments about no longer needing "Black faces who don't want to be a Black voice," telling a crowd that they were not his words but "the words of the modern grand wizards of the modern KKK."
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Bash had criticized Ramaswamy for invoking the White supremacist group in a comparative way with a Black lawmaker. Ramaswamy responded Pressley's comments had the "same spirit" about bias on the basis of skin color.
On "Hannity," host Sean Hannity went on to ask Ramaswamy about other instances where he has tussled with the press since the debate, including on the topic of U.S. aid and support for Israel.
During the debate, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley accused Ramaswamy of wanting to "stop funding Israel" – which has amounted to $3.8 billion yearly according to PBS.
Ramaswamy said he never expressed such a position, but instead a more nuanced view that it would be a "mark of success" if the U.S.-Israel relationship ever go to a point where the Jewish State was self-sustaining without American funds.
"A lot of the other professional politicians who have been threatened by my rise have used that statement to say that I would cut off aid to Israel. That's not correct: I've been crystal clear," he told Hannity.
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Ramaswamy claimed he understands Israel's alliance better than any other candidate, noting he has business partners there, and adding that he would craft an "Abraham Accords 2.0" to build on those forged by Trump.
The new diplomatic partnership would solidify relations between Israel, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar to a point where they could help guarantee Iran never attains nuclear armament.
He also said the U.S. government should take notes from Jerusalem on the issues of border policy, national identity and crime.
"I would love an Iron Dome like Israel has to defend itself against Hamas… I want something like that here in the United States. So I don't read from the traditional GOP talking-point-binder that's handed to traditional candidates," he said.
Ramaswamy also noted he has received blowback for his stance on Ukraine, in that the U.S. risks driving Russia further into a relationship with China, and that that alliance is the true threat to America.
He said one of the best way the U.S. could have blunted Russia's invasion would have been to retain energy independence and bankrupt the oil-rich nation – which the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., notably quipped in 2014 was reduced to "a gas station masquerading as a country."
On Taiwan, Ramaswamy said the press has misstated his position as well, which he described as retaining the "strategic ambiguity" status-quo that has kept China mostly at bay, while however adjusting such a view in the short term until the United States is self-sufficient in semiconductor chip production – something Taiwan leads in.
"I'm the only presidential candidate in either party who has had the courage to say that I'm not going to embrace the One-China policy, which is the posture of both political parties today -- that I'm not going to just adopt strategic ambiguity," he said.
"We need to be clear that we will defend Taiwan – That's different from strategic ambiguity now -- We have to defend Taiwan until we achieve semiconductor independence — at which point we resume our current posture of strategic ambiguity."
Hannity asked whether that meant Taiwan would be on its own after the U.S. surpassed it in chip manufacturing.
"That's again, how my position has been caricatured," the candidate replied.
Ramaswamy said the benefit to that adjustment would be that it would make a "fool" out of Chinese President Xi Jinping if he invaded Taiwan prior to U.S. microchip "independence."
"It also helps Taiwan increase its own military spending as a percentage of GDP, which is dangerously low today. And I think that that's the way that I lead -- with American interests while avoiding World War III, ensuring that we have true semiconductor independence in this country and deterring Chinese aggression."
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