Vivek Ramaswamy says a debate is brewing among Republicans

Businessman and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Republicans will need to decide this year if they want to support conservative principles like merit and the free market, or if they’re going to abandon those principles for a type of big government conservatism that has become popular among some on the right.

Ramaswamy described himself as a national libertarian who still believes in small government. He said on the other side of the debate are Republicans with a “national protectionist view” of the government — those who believe in using the power of the government to achieve conservative ends.

The debate between these two camps in the Republican Party is about to play out in the midst of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in office, he said. Trump’s chosen running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has at times championed a more protectionist view, while others — like Ramaswamy — would like to see a return to small government conservatism.

Ramaswamy spoke Friday about this debate at the 14th annual conference of the Buckley Institute at Yale, an organization at the Ivy League school trying to bring a more diverse array of voices to the New Haven, Connecticut, campus. He was introduced by Amy Chua, his former professor at Yale Law School, who is also the author of multiple books, including “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” and “The Triple Package.”

Democrats and identity politics

Ramaswamy started his remarks by reveling in Trump’s win, and the win of other Republicans across the country in Tuesday’s election. He also took a few shots at Democrats.

“We won decisively, not by a little bit, but by a lot, actually,” he said.

While encouraging Republicans not to “dance on the graves of those we’ve defeated,” and Democrats to give Republicans a chance to see if they can make the country better, Ramaswamy also shared his opinion on why Democrats lost, pointing to identity politics.

The historical progressive movement was about economic equality, he said, with hierarchies based on wealth, and a goal to lift people out of poverty. He said the latest version of the Democratic Party is focused on power relationships based on race, gender and sexual identities.

“So I think that’s the ... road for the future Democratic Party, are we going to go in this direction of post —modern wokeism, transgenderism, climatism, and the rest of the post-modern ideologies to go along with it? ... Or are they going to go back to the roots of a Democratic Party that ... earnestly cared about the problem of economic inequality and economic disempowerment? That’s the outcome I’m rooting for,” he said.

Ramaswamy said he believes capitalism is the best way to improve people’s lives, but he said he believes a healthier Democratic Party would push the conservative movement to be the best version of itself.

Republican realignment

Ramaswamy focused the bulk of his remarks on the divide in the Republican Party, asking what version of conservatism Republicans would pursue.

“Do we believe in replacing the left-wing nanny state with a right-wing nanny state? Or do we want to actually get in there and dismantle the nanny state?” he asked.

“I think the right answer for the future of the country is to just get in there and shut it down,” he said.

He spoke about three areas he would like to see Republicans return to small government conservatism.

Republicans on trade

Rather than running away from all of our trading relationships, Ramaswamy said he would like to see the U.S. adjust who it trades with.

He said he supported reducing trade with China over national security concerns, but said the U.S. should build more trading relationships with allies like South Korea, Philippines and India.

Republicans on immigration

Conservatives have at times used their “vehement” opposition to “illegal immigration” to avoid talking about what the nation’s policies on legal immigration should be, he said.

Ramaswamy said immigrants should be asked to add value and to “assimilate into the United States, be part of our national identity.”

“America isn’t about protecting ourselves from the best,” he said.

Regulatory state

The biggest debate among Republicans will be over the value of the regulatory state, Ramaswamy said. Whether government agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be empowered or shut down.

Ramaswamy says he’s on the side of shutting those agencies down and relying more on the free market.

While saying he wasn’t “blindly libertarian,” Ramaswamy says he’s sympathetic to the argument that markets do a better job of determining what is best for American workers and consumers than government does.

Vivek Ramaswamy: What does it actually mean to be an American?

Ramaswamy finished his remarks by asking what it means to be an American in the year 2024. He said he goes back to what America was in 1776, naming meritocracy, self-governance, religious liberty and free speech.

“It is a civic set of ideals that bound together a polyglot, divided group of people 250 years ago, that still binds us together today,” he said.

Ramaswamy said he still believes the pursuit of excellence “is what made America great the first time around.”

“You know, what? If we can’t compete with the very best, we better level up, because that’s who we are and who we’ve always been. We’re the pioneers, the explorers, the unafraid,” he said.