RAMASWAMY: The reality is, we have a crime wave in this country, and we know how to fix it. The question is, do we actually have the spine to do it? More cops in the streets, who are on the streets able to do their jobs without looking over their shoulder for getting sued. And we also have a mental health epidemic in this country. Just over the same period that we have closed mental health institutions, we have seen a spike in violent crime. Do we have the spine to bring them back? I think we should. As President, I will. But, it's not just drugging up people in those psychiatric institutions with Zoloft and Seroquel. Yes, we will stand for the rule of law. Yes, we will close the southern border where criminals are coming in every day. And yes, we will back law enforcement, because we remember who we really are. And that's also how we address that mental health epidemic in the next generation that is directly leading to violent crime.
Vivek RAMASWAMY: This isn't that complicated, guys, unlock American energy: drill, frack, burn coal and embrace nuclear, put people back to work by no longer paying them more to stay at home, reform the US Fed, stabilize the US dollar, and go to war.
Gov. Doug BURGUM: We can't just talk about the Biden economy because the economy, energy and national security are all tied together. We're paying too much for energy right now. But part of the reason why is because the Biden policies on energy.
Gov. Nikki HALEY: Is climate change real? Yes, it is. But if you want to really change the environment, then we need to start telling China and India that they have to lower their emissions.
Sen. Tim SCOTT: If we want the environment to be better, the best thing to do is to bring our jobs home from China. If we create 10 million new jobs in my Made in America Plan, we will have a better economy and a better environment. America has cut our carbon footprint in half in the last 25 years. Why do we put ourselves at a disadvantage, devastating our own economy? Let's bring our jobs home.
Gov. Chris CHRISTIE: The problem is that these prosecutors are refusing to do their job.
RAMASWAMY: We also have a mental health epidemic in this country. Over the same period that we have closed mental health institutions, we have seen a spike in violent crime. But, it's not just drugging up people in those psychiatric institutions with Zoloft and Seroquel. It's a deeper issue. I think faith-based approaches can play a role here, too. We're in the middle of a national identity crisis. And I say this as a member of my generation. The problem in our country right now, the reason we have that mental health epidemic is that people are so hungry for purpose and meaning, at a time when family, faith, patriotism, hard work have all disappeared. What we really need is a tonal reset from the top saying that this is what it means to be an American.
RAMASWAMY: That's correct.
Q: How would you deal with the education crisis?
RAMASWAMY: We have a crisis of achievement. Let's shut down the head of the snake, the Department of Education. Take that $80 billion, put it in the hands of the parents across this country. Allow any parent to choose where they send their kids to school. And the fact of the matter is, look, there is a part of education policy that also rests with the family. I didn't grow up in money. But you know the word privilege gets used a lot. Well, you know what? I did have the ultimate privilege of two parents in the house with a focus on educational achievement. And I want every kid to enjoy that. We have to remember education starts with the family. And the nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind.
Vivek RAMASWAMY: The only war that I will declare as US President will be the war on the federal administrative state that is the source of toxic regulations acting like a wet blanket on the economy. So, I'm not sure exactly understood Mike Pence's comment. For me, it's pretty simple. That's something the US President can do with focus, and I'll deliver on that.
PENCE: Let me explain it to you. I was a House conservative leader before it was cool. I actually pushed the Deficit Reduction Act. That was the last time we actually reduced the national debt. Joe Biden has weakened this country at home and abroad. Now is not the time for on-the-job training. We don't need to bring in a rookie.
A: I would not support it. I think that this is disastrous, that we are protecting against an invasion across somebody else's border, when we should use those same military resources to prevent across the invasion of our own southern border. We are driving Russia further into China's hands. The Russia-China alliance is the single greatest threat we face. And I find it offensive, that we have professional politicians on the stage that will make a pilgrimage to Kyiv, to their Pope, Zelenskyy, without doing the same thing for people in Maui or Chicago. Ukraine is not a priority for the United States. And I think that the same people that took us into Iraq War--you not start another no-win war. And I do not want to get to the point where we're sending our military resources abroad when we could be better using them here at home.
Vivek RAMASWAMY: False. You've been pushing this lie all week.
HALEY: But you want to go and defund Israel. You want to give Taiwan to China.
RAMASWAMY: So our relationship with Israel will be stronger by the end of my first term. But it's not a client relationship. It is a friendship. And you know what friends do? Friends help each other stand on their own two feet. So I will lead Abraham Accords 2.0. I will partner with Israel to make sure Iran never is nuclear-armed.
But you know what I love about Israel? And I have been there probably in the last 10 years more than most people on this stage. You know what I love about them? I love their border policies. I love their tough-on-crime policies. I love that they have a national identity and an Iron Dome to protect their homeland. And so, yes, I want to learn from the friends that we're supporting.
Gov. Nikki HALEY: He wants to stop funding Israel.
RAMASWAMY: False. I will lead Abraham Accords 2.0. I will partner with Israel to make sure Iran never is nuclear-armed.
FactCheck from The Jerusalem Post, Aug. 23, 2023:In June, while campaigning in NH, Ramaswamy suggested that he would be open to ending aid to Israel as "part of a broader disengagement with the Middle East." He later walked back those comments. But last week, he told podcaster Russell Brand that he does want to end US aid to Israel in 2028, the year when the current US commitment to provide $3.8 billion annually to Israel expires: "Come 2028, that additional aid won’t be necessary in order to still have the kind of stability that we’d actually have in the Middle East by having Israel more integrated with its partners," he said, [offering to] spearhead extending the Abraham Accords with Indonesia and Oman.
Ukraine is not a priority for the United States of America. And I do not want to get to the point where we're sending our military resources abroad when we could be better using them here at home to protect our own borders.
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The above quotations are from Fox News 2023 Republican primary debate in Milwaukee and commentary.
Click here for other excerpts from Fox News 2023 Republican primary debate in Milwaukee and commentary. Click here for other excerpts by Vivek Ramaswamy. Click here for a profile of Vivek Ramaswamy.
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