MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — Entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy once had a brief clash with Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) over the culture wars.
Ramaswamy said he “confronted” Sununu for saying he was too caught up in polarizing skirmishes rather than adhering to free market principles during a political event where they were both present.
THE BIG LESSON TIM SCOTT LEARNED FROM NATIONAL TOUR PRECEDING 2024 PLANS
“He said something similar like, ‘You’re too focused in the culture wars, and I just believe I’m a free marketeer guy.’ Problem is you can’t stick your head in the sand without waking up to the actual problems that we face here today,” Ramaswamy said at a meet and greet Thursday. “These are the kinds of debates we need to be having.”
The mere mention of Sununu’s name drew moans and boos from the crowd gathered at a Merrimack County Republican Committee lunch. Ramaswamy described Sununu as a “nice enough guy” but emphasized their disagreements.
“This is where I disagree with Chris. It’s not by parroting the slogans you memorized from 40 years ago. The thing that made Ronald Reagan pretty special as an individual is that he did what he needed to do in his era. He stood up to the orthodoxies in both parties to rise to the challenges of his day,” Ramaswamy said.
Ramaswamy, who penned the book Woke, Inc and whose claim to fame has been the culture wars, argued that times have changed and so should the GOP.
“I think the dogmas of 1980 are inadequate to address the unique challenges that we face in the year 2023, when the real threats to liberty aren’t just from big government — that’s half the battle. It’s this hybrid of big government, big business in our culture that together are far more powerful than either one alone,” he said.
Sununu, a popular governor actively mulling a 2024 run, has warned that the GOP has been led astray by deploying government power to combat woke follies.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“You don’t penalize a private business because they disagree with you politically,” Sununu told Fox News earlier this year. “If Republicans stand up and do it on our side, you bet Democrats are going to stand up and start penalizing conservative businesses or conservative nonprofits.”
Ramaswamy is on a 10-county blitz through New Hampshire that began Thursday and will span through April 17 as polls show an uptick in support for him in the Granite State.
