The former president of the U.S. mentioned in a Tuesday phone interview that the Republican billionaire businessman is a strong contender for his campaign partner.
Key Details
- Former President Donald Trump called into an episode of Blaze TV host Glenn Beck’s show on Tuesday to discuss his recent fourth indictment and arrest.
- Trump admitted to watching the debate for a potential vice president candidate, with Beck asking him specifically if he was considering Vivek Ramaswamy.
- “Anybody that says I’m the best president in a generation … I have to like a guy like that. You can’t get upset with him. He’s a young guy, got a lot of talent, a very intelligent person, he has good energy, and he’s very good.”
Key Details
Last Wednesday’s Republican debate in Milwaukee was an important turning point for the election cycle, with eight leading candidates taking the stage to discuss how they would approach the 2024 presidential election. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy walked away as the notable leads, with Nikki Haley seeing a sizable bump in the polls for her debate performance and overtaking former Vice President Mike Pence for fourth place—with many analysts arguing for her as a potential contender for the nomination.
Ramaswamy arguably walked away with the most attention from the debate. He is currently the third-place contender (9.2%) in the race, according to FiveThirtyEight. He is well behind Trump’s frontrunner lead (50.3%) but remains the most aggressive adorer of Trump on the debate stage. His own “America First” tendencies are arguably more radical, controversial, and plainly stated than Trump’s.
Backing Up A Bit
The 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur has never run for office prior to his announcement in February, but his aggressive stances and strong outreach efforts have pushed him a cut above the majority of the dozens of GOP candidates who struggle to break out of more than 5% approval. Former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez suspended his campaign on August 29 after failing to reach the debate stage and polling at 0.2% approval among the candidates.
As we previously reported, Donald Trump was arrested on Thursday for his fourth indictment in Georgia, alongside dozens of colleagues, over claims of attempting to overturn the 2020 state election. He is appointed to go to trial in March 2024, briefly after Super Tuesday, and shortly before a subsequent indictment trial in May 2024 for withholding classified documents—likely causing both trials to overlap.
Notable Quote
“He’s a smart guy. He’s a young guy. He’s got a lot of talent. He’s a very, very, very intelligent person. He’s got good energy, and he could be some form of something. I tell you, I think he’d be very good. I think he’s really distinguished himself,” says Trump. “He’s starting to get out there a little bit. He’s getting a little bit controversial. I got to tell him: ‘Be a little bit careful. Some things you have to hold in just a little bit, right?'”