Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told Breitbart News Daily on Thursday that Americans are hungry for details about how to put the country back on track and provided his own specific plan to decouple from China, revive the economy, and instill U.S. pride into the nation’s youth.
Speaking of his recent rise in the polls, Ramaswamy attributed that movement to speaking his mind without restraint and articulating his “true beliefs” to the American people, whom he said are hungry for details.
“Our people are sick and tired of the slogans, and so when I go into the details of how I will shut down the administrative state, how we will actually declare independence from China, how will we actually revive national pride in the next generation, how will we grow the economy back above four percent per year… people are hungry for diving into those details,” Ramaswamy began.
The anti-woke businessman explained some of his policy goals, including decoupling from China. He made it clear that it is crucial to recognize doing so as a matter of national security, emphasizing that the U.S. cannot be dependent on an enemy, such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He blasted members of the Biden administration for recently announcing “export controls on rare minerals that we needed to make technology, including semiconductors here.”
Then-Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast during a State Luncheon for China hosted by US Secretary of State John Kerry on September 25, 2015, at the Department of State in Washington, DC. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The 2024 candidate said he would love to onshore all of that to the U.S., but he said that is unlikely to be instantaneous. Therefore, it is important to reenter trade agreements with other countries.
“It’s a false promise to say that we can do that instantly in a year or even six months. That’s not gonna happen. And so what I think we need to do if we’re really serious about decoupling from China, and I am, is that we need to onshore as much as we can to the United States while also reentering some of those trade relationships with South Korea, Japan, India, Vietnam, much of Southeast Asia, Australia, even South America,” Ramaswamy explained, noting that this will place the U.S. in the position to have its threats mean something to China.
“And he [Xi Jinping] knows that I mean it when I say we are cutting the cord. We’re banning U.S. businesses from expanding into China. We’ll stop and ban any CCP affiliate from buying land in this country [and] from donating to a university in this country. And when I’m sitting across from him as U.S. president, he will know that I mean it,” he said, adding that this will put the CCP in the position to either radically reform, or the U.S. will “cut the cord.”
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“It’s a lot harder for them than it is for us,” he said, contending that it might be inconvenient short term for the U.S., but it will be disastrous for China long term.
Ramaswamy also explained how he will fix the economy, first noting that the low unemployment figure is an “illusion.”
“There are sometimes problems, yes, where we have way more people than jobs. That’s when the unemployment rate is high. Our problem is the inverse today in this country. We have way more jobs than we do people who are willing to work. … That’s actually the real impediment to economic growth,” he said, explaining how he would foster an environment to encourage more GDP growth.
“First, put people back to work by stopping paying them to stay at home. Second, unlock American energy, drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear energy, [and] do it without apologizing,” he continued.
US-Energy-Gas-Environment Workers change pipes at Consol Energy Horizontal Gas Drilling Rig exploring the Marcellus Shale outside the town of Waynesburg, PA ( MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images).
Ramaswamy said he would also “put the U.S. Fed in their place,” explaining that the Federal Reserve has “tried to play God.”
“I would restore a single mandate to the U.S. Fed to stabilize the U.S. Dollar as a unit of measurement. Combine that with my vision of shutting down the fourth branch of government — the administrative state, the regulatory state that regulates the heck out of small businesses,” he said. “Now we’re back to four to five percent GDP growth.”
That, he added, will also encourage national pride.
“People tend to be more proud of a country where they’re making more money in that country. That’s also the first way that we restore that missing national pride in the next generation. Let’s restore GDP growth. So that’s why when I say the best defense is offense, I’m playing offense. That’s the way I’m gonna lead,” Ramaswamy added.
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