Entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Thursday that former President Donald Trump was "excellent" while in office, but the "America First" movement does not belong to the 45th president.
"The truth is, I do think President Trump was an excellent president," Ramaswamy told Fox News. "I agree with him on a lot of policies, but I am running in this race to lead us forward and take the America First agenda to the next level."
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"So, America First, it doesn't belong to Trump," he added. "It doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the people of this country. That's the character with which I'm running this race, and I think that's probably gonna make it very difficult for other candidates to attack me."
Ramaswamy is rising in the polls but has not faced the same level of attack from Trump as other candidates.
However, the legacy media attacks him as a more extreme version of the former president.
"It is true that I'm taking our America First agenda further than Trump did," according to Ramaswamy. "It is clear that the wall was insufficient for the southern border. They're building tunnels underneath that wall, cartel financed. I've said that I would use the military to secure that southern border."
"I won't just put a good person on top of the Department of Education. I've said that I would shut it down. I would end affirmative action that was created by executive order. I've said I would take a pen and draw a line through it."
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Ramaswamy would go further than Trump in many ways, according to the GOP hopeful.
"Perhaps The Washington Post finds that to be extreme," he said. "I find it to be sensible. I think it's what the people of this country want, and that's why I'm confident we're gonna win this."