Ramaswamy: Debate attacks ‘a badge of honor’

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called his GOP rivals’ various attacks on him a “badge of honor” following the first GOP primary debate.

When CNN’s Dana Bash asked Ramaswamy if he expected the onslaught of attacks, he said, “I took it as a badge of honor as the 38-year-old outsider in this race who’s never been in a political debate.” 

“To be at the center stage and see a lot of establishment politicians [who are] that threatened by my rise, I am thrilled that it actually gave me an opportunity to introduce myself to the people of this country,” he continued. 

Ramaswamy found himself at the center of some of his rivals’ most contentious attacks, taking criticism from Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence.  

The first notable jab began when Christie interrupted Ramaswamy’s claims on climate change to say he’d “had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT,” comparing Ramaswamy’s opening line to former President Obama, whom he called an “amateur.”

“The last person in one of these debates … who stood in the middle of the stage and said, ‘What is a skinny guy with an odd last name doing up here?’ was Barack Obama. And I am afraid we are dealing with the same type of amateur standing on the stage tonight,” Christie said.

Later, Haley and Ramaswamy sparred over his opposition to the U.S. backing Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Haley said Ramaswamy has “no foreign policy experience, and it shows.”

When asked about the exchange, Ramaswamy pushed back on Haley’s jab. 

“Well the reality is the people who have foreign policy experience, it shows what a disaster it’s been,” Ramaswamy told Bash. “From the Iraq war on down to other pointless wars, no-win wars that these administrations, from foreign policy establishments in both parties having led us into, I think the results speak for themselves.” 

Ramaswamy said he thinks he is the only person who can bring a “clear strategic vision to our foreign policy rather than just going through the talking points memorized in 1990.” 

Pence also took aim at Ramaswamy, claiming “now is not the time for on-the-job training” and that “we don’t need to bring in a rookie.” 

Pence later defended these views in an interview with CNN, arguing the two candidates “live in a different time.”