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Ramaswamy: ‘I think it’s a mistake to bundle the Israel discussion with the Ukraine discussion’

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during a campaign stop on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, in Hampton, N.H. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha)

Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he thinks it’s a mistake to liken the Russisa-Ukraine war to the war between Israel and Hamas.

“I think it’s a mistake to bundle the Israel discussion with the Ukraine discussion,” Ramaswamy said in an interview with Jesse Watters on Fox News Friday. “It is a gambit to avoid debate on the merits on either one.”

Ramaswamy was responding to President Biden’s speech from the Oval Office Thursday, where he announced he would deliver a request to Congress for a $100 billion emergency aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other issues like aid for Taiwan and the border.

“I think it was incoherent and trying to talk about of both sides of his mouth,” Ramaswamy said.

Ramaswamy questioned Biden’s intentions with the emergency aid package since the U.S. is headed toward a government shutdown next month if Congress can’t pass spending bills.


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“The elephant in the room, Jesse, is that all of this spending is against the backdrop of being $33 trilling in the whole of national debt,” Ramaswamy said Friday.

In his remarks Thursday, Biden linked Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying they both want to “completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.” The message from Biden was that support of U.S. allies is essential for preserving American leadership in the world.

Ramaswamy said Biden should shift his focus to issues happening in the United States while examining foreign policy.

“Every one of those dollars, that $100 billion, you better make the case by cutting something here at home,” he said regarding Congressional lawmakers who will debate Biden’s aid package.

“Let the American people really understand that we’re not playing Fantasyland here. That $33 trillion national debt is real,” Ramaswamy added. “Don’t be duped by Bidenomics on the economic argument. But don’t be duped by this military homeland investment argument either.”

Biden’s funding request comes as the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas approaches its third week.