Ideological divide with Haley; she represents older generation of Republicans: Ramaswamy

Washington: Indian-American biotech entrepreneur presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has said that he has a "fundamental ideological divide" with his Republican rival Nikki Haley, who represents an older generation in the party.

Both Haley and Ramaswamy have clashed publicly during the last two of the three Republican primary debates.

“I think there's a fundamental ideological divide. She represents an older generation of Republicans,” Ramaswamy, 38, told Fox News in an interview on Monday about the 51-year-old former governor of South Carolina.

“She talks a lot about how we need a new generation of leadership. I agree with her. It's just that she's on the wrong side of that generational divide, taking us back to the Dick Cheney era, pointless wars that wasted USD 7 trillion of national debt that we accumulated, thousands of America's sons and daughters of lives sacrificed, people my age,” Ramaswamy said.

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“That's a mistake. I think that anybody who has made money off those wars, people who have been part of the establishment, joining military contractors, monetising their time in government, I don't care if that's the Biden corruption family or if it's a Republican version of that, which is what I see in Nikki Haley. It's wrong,” he said.

“So, I'm calling that out. The establishment doesn't appreciate that very much. But I think we deserve somebody who is not just a puppet of the special interests, but somebody who's independent, coming in from the outside...,” he said in response to a question.

The two Indian Americans have qualified for the fourth primary Republican Party debate, boycotted by former president and frontrunner Donald Trump.

“I will be there, and I will be similarly unrestrained, as I was in the last debate as well. That's what our base is hungry for. They want the truth. They don't want professional politicians with talking points. So, yes, I have qualified. I will be there. And I don't think that we're going to disappoint people by hiding behind some shell. I'm going to be pretty open. And that's what people are hungry for,” Ramaswamy said in response to another question.

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Describing himself as the best person to lead the country, Ramaswamy said: “I'm a CEO. I come from outside of this broken world of politics. Forget the slogans. Prices are going up. Interest rates and mortgages are going up, but wages have remained flat. That's why people are upset and feel the pain.” “Now, how do we do this? Increase the supply of everything. Increase the supply of energy. Deregulate the sector, so we can drill and frack. Increase the supply of housing. Forget the land use restrictions. That brings the cost of housing down. That grows the economy. Increase the supply of labour. Stop paying people more money to stay at home, instead of going to work,” he said.

“Then I have been a CEO, I can tell you, zero-based budgeting is the way to go. Don't use last year's budget as the baseline, that broken budget from last year, and then try to tweak it. Start with zero as the baseline and ask what's actually necessary. Nobody in either party is doing it. No single state in the country does it. It's going to take a businessman coming in from the outside. I don't think many Republicans and certainly most Democrats do (understand the economy). That's what it's going to take, is basic change...,” said the Indian American candidate.

With inputs from PTI

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