Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said that former Vice President Mike Pence missed an opportunity for heroism with his behavior on Jan. 6, 2021.
While saying he would’ve certified the election results as well, Ramaswamy criticized the way in which Pence went about it, going so far as to say that he missed a “historic opportunity” to “reunite the country.” His comments came during an appearance on NBC News’ Meet the Press, when asked by host Chuck Todd if he believed Pence did the right thing on Jan. 6 by certifying the results of the election.
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“I would have done it very differently,” Ramaswamy responded. “I think that there was a historic opportunity that he missed, to reunite this country in that window.”
“What I would have said is: This is a moment for a true national consensus where there’s two elements of what’s required for a functioning democracy in America,” he continued. “One is secure elections, and the second is a peaceful transfer of power. When those things come into conflict, that’s an opportunity for heroism.”
Ramaswamy said that he would have pushed reforms to the voting process through Congress before the decision to certify came if he were in Pence’s shoes, avoiding the pressure the vice president was faced with.
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“Here’s what I would have said: ‘We need single-day voting on Election Day, we need paper ballots, and we need government-issued ID matching the voter file.’ And if we achieve that, then we have achieved victory, and we should not have any further complaint about election integrity. I would have driven it through the Senate,” Ramaswamy said.
“In my capacity as president of the Senate, I would have led through that level of reform, then on that condition certified the election results, served it up to the president — President Trump — then to sign that into law. And on January 7th, declared the re-election campaign pursuant to a free and fair election,” he added. “I think that was a missed opportunity.”
