Ramaswamy sees ‘wide-open opportunity to go harder’ at Harris on policy

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he sees a “gaping, wide-open opportunity to go harder” at Vice President Harris on her policy record.

Ramaswamy pointed to instances of Harris backing away from some policy positions she held while running for president in 2019 within the Democratic primary, seeing that as an opportunity for the Republican ticket, led by former President Trump, to use as a way to persuade voters. 

“I think the reality is most people do like their private health insurance, who have it. She has favored taking it away,” Ramaswamy, a Trump surrogate, said during his Thursday morning appearance on CNN. “Most people do like fracking and drilling and the effects on energy prices that that has; she’s opposed fracking. She’s opposed to even offshore drilling.” 

“These are issues we should be hitting hard on,” he said. “Take that tax on unrealized capital gains. That means most farmers and most small business owners will have to pay taxes with cash they literally do not have, that is a formula for a Great Depression. So my assessment is we have not been going hard enough at her for that policy record.” 

The entrepreneur said the fixation on policy is a “winning” strategy and it would provide a contrast against the Democrats who, he says, have been “leveling” personal insults at Republicans. 

“We have an opportunity to attack even harder on the policy record, and I think our country is going to be better off if we have those policy debates,” said Ramaswamy.

The former GOP presidential contender offered a similar message last week, saying that Trump’s campaign should reset and focus on policy, instead of throwing personal insults at the other side. He then added that he spoke with the former president about it and claimed he was receptive. 

“We still have two months ahead. I’m optimistic. That’s where this is going to go, after the pageantry of a well-produced Democratic convention. After John Legend and Oprah Winfrey are done,” he said on CNN. “Now, we can get past the show to the real action of a policy debate that Americans want.”