Vivek Ramaswamy in Fourth GOP presidential primary debate

On Drugs: Annihilate fentanyl labs AND deal with demand side

Vivek Ramaswamy: To the contrary, I don't think it's going to have to come to that if we deal with the actual demand side problem that we also have in this country. The easy part is talking about how we're going to use our military to secure the border. But the harder part is dealing with the mental health epidemic raging across this country like wildfire. And there's a reason why after the opioid crisis you see fentanyl. The real false promise here is thinking that we're going to have dealt with that underlying mental health epidemic in this country by just dealing with the demand side of it.

On Families & Children: Transgenderism is a mental health disorder

Chris Christie: No, because Republicans believe in less government, not more. I trust parents.

Ron DeSantis: I signed legislation in Florida banning the mutilation of minors because [transgender surgery on minors] is wrong.

Vivek Ramaswamy: I think the north star here is transgenderism is a mental health disorder. We don't let you smoke a cigarette by the age of 18. We don't let you have an addictive drink of alcohol by the age of 21. I just challenged Ron DeSantis to go one step further and support what I think is clearly within the authority to do using federal funds just like Reagan did in '84 for the Highway Act that said the minimum drinking age needs to be 21. We can do the same thing when it comes to banning genital mutilation or chemical castration. I know Ron's been unclear about on the federal level. I'm crystal clear. That's where I stand. That's a mental health disorder. That's where we need to be at.

On Government Reform: 75% reduction in number of federal bureaucrats

On Health Care: Replace sick-care system with preventative medicine

Vivek Ramaswamy: There's something that's awful that's happening in our healthcare system. They'll pay for anything, like feeding tubes, doctors to be pill pushers, but for the procedures that can actually make these patients better, we have a broken healthcare system that doesn't pay for it. So, here's the answer. We don't have a healthcare system in this country. We have a sick care system. We need to start having diverse insurance options in a competitive marketplace that cover actual health, preventative medicine, diet, exercise, lifestyle and otherwise. And here's how we deliver that: end the antitrust exemptions for health insurance companies. That's where the competitive marketplace begins. That's crony capitalism, and that's the answer.

On Immigration: Enlist local police to assist ICE against illegals

Nikki Haley: I actually did that as governor of South Carolina.

ACLU analysis 6/2/22: The program taps state and local law enforcement agencies to identify people for arrest and deportation. From its earliest days, the 287(g) program has been a vehicle for racist, anti-immigrant politicians, rather than the bona fide public safety measure its proponents have claimed.

On Immigration: Real enemy is Deep State via the Great Replacement Theory

Why am I the only person on the stage at least who can say that January 6th now does look like it was an inside job, that the government lied to us for 20 years about Saudi Arabia's involvement in 9/11, that the Great Replacement Theory is not some grand right-wing conspiracy theory, but a basic statement of the Democratic Party's platform, that the 2020 election was indeed stolen by big tech, that the 2016 election, the one that Trump won for sure, was also one that was stolen from him by the National Security Establishment that actually put out the Trump Russia collusion hoax that they knew was false?

There's a reason why I'm the only person on this stage who can say these things. That's what it's going to take.

On Immigration: OpEd: Great Replacement is new version of old conspiracy

ACLU Analysis 6/21/22: The Great Replacement conspiracy is a relatively new version of a conspiracy that has roots going back to the founding of America. In a nutshell, this conspiracy states that immigration policies, particularly those impacting non-white, non-European immigrants, are designed to increase the non-white, non-European population in an effort to undermine (or replace) the political and cultural power of America’s white majority. Unfortunately, xenophobic political parties are nothing new in the United States. The rhetoric commonly used by Great Replacement supporters centers on defending America from an "invasion" of immigrants looking to "take over." 

On War & Peace: Hamas attack was dead wrong, but not an attack on America

Gov. Chris Christie: I would, absolutely; you're damn right I'd send the American Army in there to get our people home.

Q: The Hamas terror attack left dozens of Americans dead. You criticized Nikki Haley for saying "Finish them"?

Vivek Ramaswamy: "Finish them" was purposefully vague in a discussion that included Iran, which is what I objected to. And I think it's as US president, you have to be responsible. What happened to Israel was dead wrong, what Hamas did was medieval. It was subhuman, it was immoral. And we have to call that out for what it is on October 7th. But to say that that was an attack on America fails a basic test. That is irresponsible because it has major consequences because that doesn't leave room for what actually is an attack on America.

On War & Peace: US will absolutely defend Taiwan: that's deterrence

Ron DeSantis: We will be able to deter that from happening.

Q [to Ramaswamy]: You said, if you want to stop Xi from invading Taiwan, "Let's open a branch of the NRA in Taiwan and put an AR-15 in the hands of every family and train them how to use it." Is this a serious policy proposal?

Vivek Ramaswamy: Well, it's part of a broader deterrence strategy, and so, I think I'm going to respectfully disagree with Ron here. I think the next U.S. president needs to be crystal clear that at least for the foreseeable future, the U.S. will absolutely defend Taiwan, and it is with that clarity that we actually achieve deterrence. But I have a broader strategy than that. I also do believe the Second Amendment is a critical way of preventing foreign autocrats from [action]. So, it is part of a broader strategy, but I do think that we need to be specific about our deterrence strategy.