Washington DC: Former presidential candidate of the GOP, Indian-origin Vivek Ramaswamy speaking at the Republican Party’s National Convention promised illegal immigrants will be ‘returned’ to the country of their origin.
“Our message to illegal immigrants is also this; we will return you to your country of origin. Not because you’re all bad people, but because you broke the law and the United States of America was founded on the rule of law” the 38-year-old who dropped out of the presidential race earlier this year.
He was addressing the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday night. “To every legal immigrant: you’re like my parents. You deserve the opportunity to secure a better life for your children in America,” The former Trump rival said in remarks that he later posted on his X platform.
Ramaswamy’s parents migrated to the US from Kerala in the 1980s. Further addressing the Generation Z, he said, “You’re going to be the generation that actually saves our country. You want to be a rebel? Try calling yourself a conservative. Say you want to get married, have kids, and teach them to pledge allegiance to your country.”
Addressing black Americans he said, “the media has tried to convince you for decades that Republicans don’t care about your communities. We want for you what we want for every American: safe neighborhoods, clean streets, good jobs, a better life for your children, and a justice system that treats everyone equally – regardless of your skin colour or your political beliefs.”
Ramaswamy added that he would seal the southern border on the first day if they came to power. “We believe in the rule of law… We will seal the southern border on day one,” he said.
Ramaswamy said that these ideas are not divided on the lines of race or party. They are American ideas that we fought a revolution to secure. “Donald Trump is the president who will actually unite this country through action. Success and excellence are unifying.”
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina Governor in her address to the Republican National Convention said, “Donald Trump has my strong endorsement.”
Speaking about the border issue, Haley said that it’s the single biggest threat Americans face under US President Joe Biden. “Migrants are coming into our country by the thousands every day. We have no idea who they are, or what they plan to do. Kamala [Harris] had one job, to fix the border. Under Donald Trump, we didn’t have the border disaster we have today. I was proud to serve America in President Trump’s cabinet.”
Haley said Trump appreciated advice. Americans were well served by his presidency, even if they didn’t agree with him on all things. “We must not only be a unified party, we must also expand our party. We are so much better when we are bigger. We are stronger when we welcome people into our party who have different backgrounds and experiences. And right now, we need to be strong to save America. This is a defining moment not only for our party, but for our country,” she said.
Haley said that Trump had her strong endorsement. “President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity. It was a gracious initiation and I was happy to accept. I’ll start by making one thing perfectly clear; Donald Trump has my strong endorsement. Period.”
She said that when Trump was the President, Putin did not invade Ukraine because he knew Trump was strong.
“Think about it. When Barack Obama was president, Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea. With Joe Biden as President, Putin invaded all of Ukraine. But when Donald Trump was president, Putin did nothing. Putin didn’t attack Ukraine because he knew Donald Trump was tough. A strong president doesn’t start wars, they prevent wars.”
If we have four more years of Biden or a single day of Harris, our country will be badly worse off. For the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump, she said.
Talking about West Asia, she said that the dictators who chant death to America are the bank rollers and weapons suppliers for Hamas and Hezbollah. They’re behind the barbaric massacres.
“Compare Trump and Biden. Trump got us out of the insane Iran nuclear deal. He imposed the toughest sanctions ever on Iran, and he eliminated the arch terrorist Qasem Soleimani. Iran was too weak to start any wars. Biden lifted the sanctions he begged them to get back into the nuclear deal. He surrendered in Afghanistan. He sent every possible sign of weakness. Even now, while Hamas is still holding America, Americans hostage, Biden is pressuring Israel instead of the terrorists between Israel and Hamas. Donald Trump is clear about who is our friend and who is our enemy.”
Haley said that she doesn’t agree with Trump all the time. “But there’s more to it. There are some Americans who don’t agree with Donald Trump 100 per cent of the time…but we agree more often than we disagree. We agree on keeping America strong and safe,” she said. (With inputs from ANI)
