Vivek Ramaswamy in Second GOP presidential debate

On Corporations: I ran companies in China but now declare independence

RAMASWAMY: We got the hell out of there. And when I started my next company, Strive, to compete against BlackRock [a foreign-owned company operating in China], I made a commitment that we would never do business in China. We need to declare independence from China, and I will say that through.

On Corporations: Cut the Fed technocracy, to unshackle the economy

I've offered a very clear practical plan to do it. That's how we unleash the economy, that's how we revive the integrity of a three-branch Constitutional Republic rather than this technocracy and aristocracy.

On Corporations: Start government with zero-based budgeting, like businesses

On Foreign Policy: We're driving Russia into China's arms; end Ukraine aid

Gov. Ron DESANTIS (R-FL): We are not going to have a blank check.

Sen. Tim SCOTT (R-SC): By degrading the Russian military, we actually keep our homeland safer, and reduce if not eliminate an attack on NATO territories.

Vivek RAMASWAMY: China is the real enemy. And we're driving Russia further into China's arms. We have to level with the American people on this issue. The reality is just because Putin is an evil dictator does not mean that Ukraine is good. This is a country that has banned 11 opposition parties...

Gov. Nikki HALEY (R-SC): A win for Russia is a win for China.

RAMASWAMY: That is not true.

HALEY: But I forgot; you like China.

RAMASWAMY: Nope. The Communist China of Party is the real enemy. We're driving Russia into China's arms. We need a reasonable peace plan to end this. [Ukraine's] president just last week was hailing a Nazi in his own ranks.

On Immigration: Seal the border to reduce fentanyl epidemic

RAMASWAMY: There's two sides to this. One is, we do have to seal that Southern border. Building the wall is not enough. They're building cartel-financed tunnels underneath that wall. Semitrucks can drive through them. We have to use our own military to seal the Swiss cheese of a Southern border. But we also have to be honest. There's a demand-side problem in this country too, a mental health epidemic. We have to bring back mental health care in this country, not with pumping pharmaceuticals, but faith-based approaches that restore purpose and meaning in the next generation of Americans. Many of them are getting it through social media. If you're 16 years old or under, you should not be using an addictive social media product, period. We can revive the mental health of this country while stopping the fentanyl epidemic.

On Jobs: I have sympathy for workers but no patience for union bosses

RAMASWAMY: I don't have a lot of patience for the union bosses. I do have a lot of sympathy for the workers, however. People are going through real hardship in this country. I've been through hardship growing up. I understand that hardship is not a choice. But victimhood is a choice. You know, if I was giving advice to those workers, I would say go picket in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. That's really where the protest needs to be. Disastrous economic policies that have driven up prices, that have driven up interest rates and mortgage rates, at the same time wages remaining stagnant.

On Jobs: We pay people to stay home; put people back to work

RAMASWAMY: [We can both] address the national debt as well as bring down prices. Put people back to work. We are using taxpayer money to pay people more to stay at home than to go to work. That is wrong, that contributes to our supply chain crisis. It contributes to inflation. That's the easiest way to unlock this economy.

On Technology: I'm not a know-it-all; I listen to challengers & experts

RAMASWAMY: The Republican Party [needs to] reach the next generation of young Americans where they are. But kids under the age of 16 should not be using addictive social media. [And we should] get to declaring independence from China.

I'm the new guy here, and so I know I have to earn your trust. What do you see? You see a young man who's in a bit of a hurry, maybe a little ambitious, bit of a know-it-all, it seems, at times. I'm here to tell you: "No, I don't know it all. I will listen. I will have the best people, the best and brightest in this country, whatever age they are, advising me." Many of the people on this stage included; that's how I built my companies. I want to be challenged. I want people who disagree with me. That's what makes America great because we're not a perfect nation. We're founded on the pursuit of perfection.