Vivek Ramaswamy said he doesn’t think there should be tests of mental capacity for lawmakers, despite the recent spate of health problems among congressmen.
The 2024 candidate told DailyMail.com on Monday that he believes it is up to voters to decide who governs them.
But Ramaswamy has indicated he would support term limits in Congress, which could solve the health problem faced by many lawmakers and politicians when they are in their mid-to-late 70s.
Most recently, 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze for 30 seconds during a news conference in Kentucky last week. It was an eerily similar incident to a month earlier, when he stopped moving and speaking while speaking to reporters in the Capitol.
Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told DailyMail.com during a picnic in Salem, New Hampshire on Monday that he does not support mental ability tests for members of Congress, claiming it is voters’ choice over who to elect and keep in office. Pictured: Ramaswamy (right) and his wife Apoorva attend the GOP’s Labor Day picnic in Salem on Monday
This comes after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suffered a second chill in just a month while speaking at a news conference
McConnell’s office and the Capitol Physician say the events were related to lightheadedness from a concussion he suffered in March after falling at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is also running in the 2024 Republican primary, said Sunday that there must be mental competency tests for everyone running for Congress — both incumbents and newbies.
“I tend to leave it up to voters,” said Ramaswamy when asked what he thought of the proposal. “So I think we should trust the voters of this country when it comes to deciding who actually governs.”
“I’m not in favor of eliminating people running for office because I prefer to trust the voters,” he told DailyMail.com.
“It also depends on age,” he added. “I proceeded very consistently.”
At 38, Ramaswamy is by far the youngest candidate in the 2024 race. He is succeeded by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 44.
Ramaswamy, who said Monday he wants to cut the federal workforce by 75 percent, while not publicly commenting on a term limit for Congress, says there should be an eight-year term limit for unelected federal bureaucrats.
This, he said, would amount to a term limit in Congress.
Ramaswamy has identified several agencies he wants to abolish entirely, including the FBI and the Department of Education.
Ramaswamy was one of five candidates to speak at Monday’s picnic – but was by far the fan favourite
Vivek and Apoorva Ramaswamy spoke to constituents before the biotech millionaire made his remarks in Salem, New Hampshire
Ramaswamy was one of five candidates who spoke at the GOP’s Labor Day picnic in Salem, New Hampshire on Monday.
He spoke on the same stage Monday afternoon: former Vice President Mike Pence; former Texas Rep. Will Hurd; former Governor of Arkansas Asa Hutchinson; and former Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, Steve Laffey.
Pence was greeted by a lone protester, seated front center, waving a T-shirt bearing Donald Trump’s mug shot that read “Never Surrender.”
Trump’s first mugshot was released last month as he surrendered to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, following his fourth and final indictment as part of a plan to overturn the 2020 election results.
The mugshot was immediately embraced by his supporters – as evidenced by its use on Monday’s protest t-shirt against Pence.
By far the fan favorite at the Salem GOP Labor Day Picnic was Ramaswamy, who made a splash at the first Republican debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin last month. Pence was also one of the eight candidates on that stage, noticeably absent from Trump.
Pence has faced heckling and protesters on a number of occasions in the past, particularly diehard Trump supporters who believe the former vice president is a traitor for his refusal to prevent Congress from confirming the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The former vice president stood by his actions that day, claiming he took a vow to uphold the Constitution – and did so by overseeing the certification of Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021.
Despite arguably having one of the highest notoriety ratings among the dozen or so candidates under Trump, Pence is struggling to gain ground in polls and remains mid-table.
