Ramaswamy pushes 2024 rivals to commit to pardoning Trump over federal indictment

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is pushing 2024 White House contenders to commit to pardoning former President Trump if he is convicted on federal charges over his handling of classified documents.

Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and long shot GOP presidential hopeful, became one of the first candidates to openly pledge to pardon Trump after the federal indictment against him was unsealed late last week.

Ramaswamy’s campaign released a letter Tuesday that it said was sent to every White House contender — both Republican and Democratic — urging them to pardon the former president.

“Each of our paths to electoral success would be easier if President Trump were eliminated from competition, but that is the wrong result for our country. The fact that we are running against Trump gives us credibility to denounce this politicized prosecution,” Ramaswamy wrote.

“I condemn these charges by the U.S. Department of Justice. Below, I have signed a commitment to pardon President Trump promptly on January 20, 2025, for the federal charges … I respectfully request that you join me in this commitment or else publicly explain why you will not,” he added in his letter.

The letter was released while Ramaswamy was in Miami speaking out against the Trump indictment. At one point the biotech entrepreneur was given a megaphone to help deliver his remarks, though one clip circulated online showed him struggling to use it.

Trump is expected to appear in federal court Tuesday afternoon in Miami and said he’ll plead not guilty to the 37 charges relating to mishandling of national security material.

Prosecutors allege Trump kept classified documents pertaining to some of the country’s military and national security secrets at his Mar-a-Lago residence and that he “endeavored to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal his continued retention of classified documents.”

Ramaswamy pledged to pardon Trump last week after the federal indictment against the former president was released. Meanwhile, long shot presidential contender Perry Johnson pledged in March, amid Trump’s multiple legal controversies, to also pardon the former president.

Ramaswamy’s letter comes as several Republican contenders have criticized Trump over the indictment, suggesting a partial GOP split with the former president over the charges.

“It is a very tight, very detailed, evidence-laden indictment, and the conduct in there is awful,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said during a Monday CNN town hall in New York.

“What I can tell you, for sure I know about that indictment, is there’s probably about a third of the evidence they actually have is in that indictment,” he added.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley argued that Trump was “reckless” if the charges in the federal indictment were true.

“This is what I’ll tell you, two things can be true at the same time: One, the DOJ and FBI have lost all credibility with the American people, and getting rid of just senior management isn’t going to be enough to fix this. This is going to take a complete overhaul, and we have to do that,” Haley said during an interview Monday on Fox News. 

“Two, the second thing can also be true. If this indictment is true, if what it says is actually the case, President Trump was incredibly reckless with our national security,” she added. 

— Updated at 2:36 p.m.