Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy made a campaign promise to pardon Julian Assange, Douglass Mackey, Ross Ulbricht, convicted Jan. 6 rioters, and a possibly-convicted Donald Trump if he’s elected in 2024.
Ramaswamy appeared on the Roseanne Barr Podcast on Thursday to continue his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. There, he followed suit with his fellow opponents, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, in promising to pardon the former president should he be convicted of any of the 91 charges currently pending against him.
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My top goal is to reunite this country & pardoning Trump is a requirement to achieve that. Same goes for peaceful Jan 6 protestors, Julian Assange, Douglass Mackey, and Ross Ulbricht. I won’t wait until the last day like Presidents usually do. I’ll get it done on Jan 20, 2025 &… pic.twitter.com/wr9U8p4c9l
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 5, 2024
But Ramaswamy went further by vowing to pardon Assange’s 17 counts of Espionage Act violations and one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. Ramaswamy also said he would pardon Ulbricht, who was convicted of aiding and abetting the distribution of narcotics by means of the internet, continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to aid and abet computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic in fraudulent IDs, and conspiracy to launder money. Ramaswamy’s list of desired pardons also included the election interference conviction against Mackey.
“My top goal is to reunite this country & pardoning Trump is a requirement to achieve that. Same goes for peaceful Jan 6 protestors, Julian Assange, Douglass Mackey, and Ross Ulbrich [sic],” Ramaswamy said. “I won’t wait until the last day like presidents usually do. I’ll get it done on Jan 20, 2025, & take the backlash if I have to.”
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Ramaswamy has yet to qualify for the next presidential debate in Iowa, while DeSantis and Haley have. Trump has plans to host a town hall in Iowa the same night instead. The final candidate, Chris Christie, also has not qualified.
Christie has committed not to pardon Trump should he be elected.
