Vivek Ramaswamy also told LifeSiteNews that he is keeping an 'open mind' on the idea of a federal abortion ban, after previously arguing such legislation ought to be left to the states.
(LifeSiteNews) — LifeSiteNews’ Jim Hale caught up with rising GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on the campaign trail outside Washington, D.C. to ask him for more information about his bold political platform and his insistence that he holds an “unapologetically pro-life” stance.
Ramaswamy, who says he is a practicing Hindu but that he holds Judeo-Christian values, has made “God is real” the number one “truth” of his political platform.
The 31-year-old entrepreneur is currently shooting up in GOP Republican primary polls and will likely soon take third place behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
LifeSiteNews: You’re the only candidate I’ve seen who has put God as the first point [in the list of principles upon which his political platform is based]. Why did you do that?
Vivek Ramaswamy: That’s where it begins. We are one nation under God. John Adams said it well: ‘Our Constitution was made for a moral people. James Madison said the same thing.
We live a great civic culture, but it’s built against a backdrop of the ultimate truth. Once we start believing again in something greater than ourselves, then we’re not going to be lost in the desert anymore as we are today.
And so I think we need to talk about that more, and I don’t think that God needs to be a four-letter word in our culture.
Vivek Ramaswamy’s 10 principles
LifeSiteNews: You use the words ‘nuclear family’ as the foundation for everything that we aspire to.
Vivek Ramaswamy: It was the ultimate privilege that I was given. My parents came to this country without a lot of money, so it’s not like I was born into money. But I’ve lived the American dream because I was given two parents, with a focus on education, and a belief in God. That was the ultimate privilege that I had. And I want to make sure that every kid across this country can benefit from the same thing.
It’s not just a religious foundation. Aristotle said, ‘Great countries and great nations are built on the foundation of the household. So let’s stop incentivizing people to have single parent families … let’s cultivate a culture where we celebrate the things that make us great: Family and the nuclear family in particular.
LifeSiteNews: Can you clarify your pro-life position?
Vivek Ramaswamy: I am unapologetically pro-life. I think that unborn life is life. That’s another truth.
I also think that this issue does not have to be as divisive as we make it out to be. I’ll prove it to you: There was a famous case. Clarence Thomas referred to it in the Dobbs’ case. Imagine there’s a pregnant woman walking down the street. She’s assaulted. [Her] unborn child dies as a result. I couldn’t find a single American in this country who would say that that criminal does not deserve to be held criminally liable for that death.
What does that say? It says that we share pro-life instincts as a country.
What I think we need to do in the pro-life movement more, what I try to do, is talk more affirmatively about adoption. Let’s talk about even options for childcare, pulling from Social Security earlier in life when we need it. Sexual responsibility for men. Genetic tests [which] can confirm who the father is.
This doesn’t have to be ‘women’s rights versus men’s rights.’ This is about human rights.
I think if we talk about the issue that way, standing on the side of principle, we can bring this country together around protecting life, which, by the way, most European nations are far ahead of us in this regard. We’re closer to Iran and China. That’s not the company we want to be in.
The good news is most of us in this country share those instincts. My question is: How do we look in the mirror? How can we be better to lead? And it’s by talking about the kinds of alternative values — good crisis pregnancy centers that we can support, teaching women, helping them get to ‘Yes.’ This isn’t about ‘women’s rights versus men’s rights.’ We’re all in this together, including greater responsibility for men. Let’s stand for those things.
LifeSiteNews: But no federal ban on abortion?
Vivek Ramaswamy: Where I am right now is I’m weighing the constitutional authority to do it. Here’s where I am: This issue begins with the states, it’s why I’ve long time been opposed to Roe versus Wade. I’ve talked to constitutional scholars to say, ‘What’s the constitutional authority our government has to act? So, what I’m supporting right now is efforts across the states to protect life because this is going to be a states-first issue.
If there’s an additional blanket of security from the federal government, the question for me is, ‘What’s the constitutional authority for the federal government to get involved?’ I’m keeping an open mind on that. That’s where I am.
LifeSiteNews: [You say] “We need to be proud once again to be Americans.” That’s what Ronald Reagan did. He made us proud once again to be Americans, and you are the one that’s really sounding that alarm in such a deep way. You also talk about the issue of depression, that Americans are clinically depressed.
Vivek Ramaswamy: We suffer an epidemic of depression and anxiety, up two-fold in the last three years. Those are symptoms, just like wokeness and gender ideology, [and] the climate cult: They’re symptoms of a deeper void of purpose and meaning in our country.
Faith, patriotism, hard work, family. These things have disappeared. What we need to do is fill that void with something deeper. The old saying goes: ‘If there’s a hole the size of God in your heart and God does not fill it, something else will instead. The same can be said of belief in a nation. So I want to fill that hole. You’re right: Reagan did that in 1980. I’m running to do that in 2024.
LifeSiteNews: Why should we vote for Vivek Ramaswamy instead of President Trump?
Vivek Ramaswamy: I’m taking that ‘America First’ agenda even further than Donald Trump did. I’m a George Washington ‘America First’ conservative. I want to revive the ideals of 1776, and I think we go further if we do it based on first principles and moral authority, not just vengeance and grievance. So ‘America First’ doesn’t belong to Trump, it doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the people of this country.
I’m guided by purpose, and we live by the values we preach, from family values to faith in God. That allows us to go further, and I think that’s a little different [from] me and some of the others in this race.
LifeSiteNews: Finally, why is wokeism such a toxic thing?
Vivek Ramaswamy: When we’re taught to view each other based on our skin color, or the genetic attributes we inherit on the day we’re born, that’s divisive. I think America is about not just celebrating our skin-deep differences. Our foundation is celebrating what unites us across that diversity. E Pluribus Unum: ‘From many, one.’
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Friday June 30, 2023.
