Ramaswamy doubles down on voting for Trump if convicted

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy doubled down on voting for former President Trump, even if he is convicted in one of his four ongoing legal battles.

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked Ramaswamy on “This Week” why he believed it was “OK for a convicted felon to be president,” if Trump ended up being convicted. Ramaswamy responded by reiterating that the prosecutions against Trump are “downright politicized persecutions.”

“I do not want to see us become a banana republic where the administrative police state uses police force to eliminate opponents from competition,” he said. “That’s not the way it works.”

“I will pick who I believe the best next president should be,” he continued. “I’m in this race because I believe I can lead us forward and reunite this country, but if it’s not me as the nominee, I still expect that Donald Trump or whoever the Republican nominee is will be better than the alternative.”

Stephanopoulos continued to press Ramaswamy on why he would vote for Trump, even when he said that some of the actions Trump took on Jan. 6, 2021, were in poor judgement. The GOP hopeful explained that he said what “every Republican nominee said to make it on that debate stage,” when talking about pledging his support for the Republican candidate.

“What I’ve said is clear, if Donald Trump’s the nominee, yes, I will support him,” Ramaswamy said. “And if I’m the president, yes, I will pardon him, because that will help reunite the country, but it’s not the most important thing I’m going to do as the next president.”