Ramaswamy: Trump showed bad judgment on Jan. 6, but it’s ‘not the same thing as a crime’

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said on Sunday that former President Trump showed bad judgment on Jan. 6, 2021, but that is “not the same thing as a crime.”

“I’ve been consistent all along that I would have made different judgments than Donald Trump made. That is why I am running in this race for the presidency, the same race that he’s in, because I would have made different – and I believe better – judgments for the country. But a bad judgment is not the same thing as a crime. And when we conflate the two, that sets a dangerous precedent for this country,” the tech entrepreneur and billionaire told Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” when asked about Trump’s actions on Jan. 6. 

“I don’t want to see us become some banana republic, where the party in power uses police force to arrest its political opponents,” he added, reiterating previous statements.

Ramaswamy has been critical of some of Trump’s actions, while also ardently defending the former president against steps taken by the Department of Justice. 

Following news that Trump would be indicted in the classified documents probe, Ramaswamy was quick to pledge to pardon Trump, if Ramaswamy were elected president, and called on other Republican 2024 candidates to do the same. 

Trump last week said he received a target letter signaling a possible indictment in the investigation into his attempts to hold onto power after losing the 2020 presidential election.

On Sunday, Ramaswamy, referring to the letter, called a potential indictment against Trump in the Jan. 6 case a “bad idea.” 

Trump has remained atop national polling of the 2024 Republican presidential primary race. According to the most recent Morning Consult data, Trump has the support of 55 percent of GOP primary voters, compared to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s 20 percent and Ramaswamy’s 8 percent.