Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate, has issued a stern warning to Republicans, cautioning them to be mindful of the "hard realities" surrounding their critique of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.
Ramaswamy, in an interview with Fox News Digital, expressed his concern over the Republicans' reaction to the recent convention.
"The bottom line is, I think what's happened is a lot of Republicans were caught by surprise after the convention," he said. "That's resulted in some reactive steps that I don't think all make sense. And I think they're actually hurting us."
The former presidential candidate's comments were in response to a viral post he made on X, which garnered over 3 million views. The post addressed his concerns about the Republican discourse surrounding the potential face-off between Harris and former President Trump.
Ramaswamy's primary concern is the Republicans' call for Biden to step down or be removed from office, arguing that if Biden is unfit to run for president, he is equally unfit to serve as president.
He believes this argument is flawed. "Kamala Harris is unproven as a political leader, let alone as the U.S. president. Why put her in a position as the U.S. president with all the benefits of incumbency?" he questioned.
According to Ramaswamy, the call for Biden to step down is a reactive move by Republicans that could potentially harm their chances.
"It's not going to be good for America and it's not going to be good for Republican electoral prospects if Kamala Harris is the President of the United States of America for even a short period of time, for even a minute," he warned.
Ramaswamy also cautioned Republicans against focusing too much on Harris' record as a prosecutor, particularly her alleged overzealousness in incarcerating individuals for minor crimes. He believes this line of attack could backfire.
"It doesn't make sense because it legitimizes the otherwise laughable claim that she's a law-and-order candidate," he explained.
He also pointed out the contradiction in Republicans accusing Harris of both covering up Bidens health issues and orchestrating a soft "coup" to remove him from the ticket. "They're self-contradictory. And if we say things that don't make sense, we're more likely to lose votes, which is the thing that I care most about," he said.
Ramaswamy believes that Harris is not the "biggest risk" the Republicans face, but rather the "shenanigans on the Democratic side." He stated, "The voters don't love Kamala Harris on her own terms. We know that because even when she was running in the Democratic primary, she didn't even make it to the Iowa caucus."
When asked if some Republicans are underestimating Harris ability to win, Ramswamy expressed concern about complacency. "You got to compete like you're behind, or else you soon will be," he advised. "We are up against a machine and the more we understand that, we have formidable opponents."
Ramaswamy is of the belief that the Democrats were waiting until after the Republican National Convention to have "full information," and that it is understandable Republicans were caught "flat-footed." However, he remains confident that they will emerge victorious in November if they stay focused.
"It doesn't matter because Kamala Harriswe can easily defeat Kamala Harris in the same landslide we were going to defeat Joe Biden on," he asserted.
"But it's not going to be by nit-picking on random political criticisms of her. I think those could backfire. I think the way we're going to do it is by articulating our own vision of who we are and what we stand for.
And if so, we win this thing not only in a landslide, but we unite this country and revive our country, which is something we're hungry for."
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