Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy stated Wednesday that Donald Trump wants “national unity” in his presidential run and that Trump should show this during Thursday’s debate.
Ramaswamy, who has endorsed the former president in his 2024 bid, commended Trump for agreeing to this debate with President Joe Biden, arguing that it is unfriendly territory for him. He also advised Trump to “be yourself” in this debate, as voters watching are good at picking up “preprepared, pre-canned talking points.”
“One of the things I love about President Trump is he‘s not a guy who just sticks to a script, he’s a guy who actually speaks his heart and mind,” Ramaswamy said on CNN’s News Central. “But one piece of advice I would give him, and I‘ve gotten to know President Trump especially after I‘ve left the presidential race, is he is actually somebody who deeply cares about national unity, and that does not come across in the media’s normal reporting of them. So one of my pieces of advice to him, and I think that he will be successful in getting this across, if not at the debate for the rest of the campaign, is how much he does care about reuniting one nation in this country.”
The interview then took a heated turn when anchor John Berman asked Ramaswamy about Trump’s social media posts, and if these posts reflected a desire to unify the country. Ramaswamy contended that social media is not meant to unify in general, arguing that this is not a partisan issue.
Regarding the debate itself, Ramaswamy contended that it is a rare opportunity for candidates to show voters who they really are without filters from cable television or social media posts. He also noted how this election is a “once-in-a-century opportunity” in which both candidates have been president for four years, and that the election should not be determined by “personality-based accusations.”
Ramaswamy was also asked about an interview Trump did with the Washington Examiner, in which the former president acknowledged he was “very aggressive” in the first 2020 debate and got “great marks” when he performed differently in the second one. When asked if he would like to see Trump be less aggressive in Thursday’s debate, Ramaswamy reiterated his desire for Trump to be himself, noting that this may include showing aggression.
“But there‘s an expression in my own family — I talked about it in the campaign trail and I think Donald Trump embodies that as well — you have to be strong enough to protect your kindness,” Ramaswamy said. “Strong enough he is, and most Americans know that about him, that he‘s a fighter. But I‘d like for Americans to also see the side of him that I‘ve had a chance to see since I‘ve left this race, which is that Trump also cares about leading the entire nation, and yes, dare I say, uniting this country. That part, I don‘t think has come across through the filters, I do hope it comes across tomorrow night at the debate.”
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Trump partaking in the debate on CNN has raised some concerns from his supporters, with campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt pointing out the network’s previous negative coverage of the former president in a CNN interview on Monday. Leavitt was then kicked off from this interview, with her later stating that the network has an “anti-Trump bias” at its core.
Thursday will see Biden and Trump, the two presumptive nominees for their respective parties, take the stage in a debate moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. New rules for this debate include candidates having their mics cut when it is not their turn to talk, no prewritten notes, and no public audience.