Vivek Ramaswamy
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has promised to pardon all peaceful January 6 protesters if elected as the next President of the United States in 2024.
At the Republican primary presidential debate last month, the 38-year-old Indian American entrepreneur blasted the US Justice Department for its political persecution of nonviolent demonstrators.
In a statement, Vivek Ramaswamy said, “America now has a two-tiered justice system: Antifa and BLM rioters roam free while peaceful January 6 protesters are imprisoned without bail”.
“Biden’s ‘Department of Injustice’ has executed over 1,000 arrests for nonviolent offenses related to January 6, casting a dark shadow over Lady Justice and the foundational principles of our legal system”, the statement reads.
“To unify this country, I commit as president to pardon all Americans who were targets of politicized federal prosecutions and those denied due process. This includes all peaceful, nonviolent January 6 protesters who were denied their constitutional due process rights”, Mr. Ramaswamy noted.
More than 2,000 people entered the US Capitol on January 6 as lawmakers confirmed the results of the 2020 election, in which President Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump.
The mob rushed the Capitol after Trump delivered a speech at a rally not far from the Capitol grounds. Trump claimed electoral fraud in his speech and urged then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results.
The incident sparked the largest police investigation in US history, with hundreds of people charged with crimes.
Ramaswamy stated that he would put an end to the weaponization of police power in America and that every Republican candidate must be forthright on difficult subjects.
He stated on Sunday that, while he expects to be the party’s nominee for the November 2024 US elections, he will vote for Trump if he receives the nomination.
He also stated his plan to pardon Trump, who is now facing a slew of legal challenges if he is elected President of the United States.
Ramaswamy went on to say, “If Donald Trump’s the nominee — yes, I will support him, 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. It is the table stakes for moving this country forward”.
Following his strong showing in the inaugural Republican primary presidential debate last month, Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur-turned-politician, has seen a surge in popularity, vying against fellow Indian American rival Nikki Haley, the former Governor of South Carolina.
According to an opinion poll released by the Trump Campaign, Ramaswamy (with 15 percent) is now a distant second to former president Trump (68 percent). Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now in the third position with 13 percent of the vote.
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