Just one week after Nikki Haley couldn’t manage to tell Sean Hannity how her policy proposals differ from those of Donald Trump, the Fox News host put the same question to businessman Vivek Ramaswamy—who joined the GOP presidential candidate field on Tuesday.
Trump is “probably” the leader in the race for the GOP nomination based on polling data, Hannity said, before asking: “What are the policy differences you have between yourself and Donald Trump?”
Like Haley, Ramaswamy, who brands himself as an “anti-woke” culture warrior, was in no rush to make himself a potential target of the former president.
“First of all, Donald Trump is a friend. I am not running against him. I am running on a vision for our nation,” Ramaswamy said, similar to how Haley refused to “kick sideways.”
This time, Hannity stepped in more forcefully.
“But wait a minute. You’re not running for him. You’re running against him. Let’s be honest,” he interjected, drawing laughs from his studio audience.
“Let’s talk about differences,” Ramaswamy replied, “because I’m with you, Sean.”
“[Trump] was the O.G. of ‘America First.’ I am taking that to the next level with ‘America First 2.0,’” he pledged, explaining what sounded more like policy endorsement than a legitimate difference.
“Let’s actually get the job done, which means dismantling federal bureaucracy,” Ramaswamy continued, proposing “eight-year sunset clauses for anybody in the federal bureaucracy” and an end to the Department of Education, among other federal agencies.
This post originally appeared on and written by:
William Vaillancourt
The Daily Beast 2023-02-24 05:06:00
