Campaign

Ramaswamy on Trump: ‘I expect to take him as an adviser’

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy addresses the Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, June 23, 2023.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said at a NewsNation town hall Monday that former President Trump could be one of his advisers if Ramaswamy wins the 2024 election. 

“I think Trump was an excellent president,” Ramaswamy told NewsNation’s Leland Vittert at the forum in Chicago. 

“I think his defeat of Hillary Clinton in 2016 was an important political event that stopped the leftward march through our government and our institutions,” he continued. “And so I expect to take him as an adviser as well as, I’m actually taking to the next level our America first agenda, shutting down that administrative state.” 

“There were some forces that stopped him that I expect will not stop me,” he said. “But I will be proud to still learn from the foundation that he laid and even understand what he would have done differently.”

Ramaswamy also said that he would consider other members of the Republican presidential primary field for Cabinet positions. 

“You don’t hear me bashing other candidates because I’m going to need each of them to play their role when it comes to reviving this nation,” he said. “And so yes, I do think that this presidential campaign will put some of them to the test. I think a certain number of them will be eligible for Cabinet positions in my administration.” 

Trump is the dominant front-runner in the Republican presidential primary, with the Real Clear Politics average showing him at 54.5 percent support. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is in second place at 14.8 percent, while Ramaswamy is in third place at 6.3 percent.

NewsNation and The Hill are both owned by Nexstar Media Group.