When asked if he would increase military support for Ukraine, he said any additional funding would be “disastrous” and amount to “protecting us from an invasion across someone else’s border so that we should use those same military resources to prevent the invasion of our own southern border here. in the USA”.

On climate change, his rhetoric that the United States should “unlock American energy, drill, fracking, burn coal, go nuclear” is an attempt to position himself against Mr. Biden’s flagship law on climate change. inflation, which injected $291 billion into green technologies.

“It will take a stranger”

Like Mr Trump in 2016, Mr Ramaswamy touted his credentials as a businessman and tried to deflect attacks when he had no political experience.

Even though he’s previously said he’s not interested in becoming Mr. Trump’s vice president, that line will be tested if he doesn’t have a credible chance of overtaking him by the end of the day. end of the year.

In an interview Thursday night, Mr. Ramaswamy significantly softened his stance on whether he would serve as Mr. Trump’s vice president.

Asked by GB News if he would become Mr Trump’s running mate if the former president won the Republican nomination, he replied: “See, it’s not about me. If it was about me, of course. It’s a great position for someone at my age.

“This is about reviving our country and I can only reunite this country if I do so from the White House as the leader and face of our movement.”

He added that he had “fresh legs” and would ask Mr Trump to become his “most valuable adviser” if he won the presidency next year.

Earlier, Mr Ramaswamy had said he was “not interested in a different position in government” and would prefer to work in the private sector.

“Let me just address an issue that is on everyone’s mind at home tonight,” he told the audience on Wednesday.

“Who is this skinny guy with a funny last name and what the hell are you doing in the middle of this debate phase?”

He added that he was “not a politician” but an entrepreneur, arguing: “I think it will take a foreigner”.