Vivek Ramaswamy said he doesn’t believe there should be tests on lawmakers’ mental competency, despite the recent spate of health problems among members of Congress.
The 2024 candidate told 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 care issue that many lawmakers and politicians face as they reach 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 at the Capitol.
Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told on Monday during a picnic in Salem, New Hampshire that he does not support mental competency testing for members of Congress, claiming it is up to voters to decide who they 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 cold episode for the second time in just a month while speaking at a press conference
McConnell’s office and the Capitol Physician say the events were related to lightheadedness from a concussion he suffered in March after a fall at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C
Former U.N. 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 newcomers.
“I tend to leave it to the voters,” Ramaswamy said when asked what he thought about the proposal. “That’s why I think we should trust the voters of this country to decide who actually governs.”
“I’m not in favor of eliminating people running for office because I’d rather leave that to the voters,” he told .
“It also depends on age,” he added. “I acted very consistently.”
At 38, Ramaswamy is by far the youngest candidate in the 2024 race. He is followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 44.
Ramaswamy, who said Monday he wants to cut the number of federal employees by 75 percent, has not publicly commented on term limits for Congress but says there should be an eight-year term limit for unelected federal bureaucrats.
This, he said, would amount to term limits in Congress.
Ramaswamy has identified several agencies he wants to abolish completely, including the FBI and the Department of Education.
Ramaswamy was one of five contestants to speak at the picnic on Monday – but was by far the fans’ favorite
Vivek and Apoorva Ramaswamy spoke to voters 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.
Speaking on the same stage Monday afternoon: former Vice President Mike Pence; former Texas Rep. Will Hurd; former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson; and former mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, Steve Laffey.
Pence was greeted by a lone protester sitting front and center, waving a T-shirt with Donald Trump’s mugshot that read “Never Surrender.”
Trump’s first mugshot was released last month when he turned himself in to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, following his fourth and final indictment as part of the plot to overturn the 2020 election results.
The mugshot was immediately embraced by his supporters – as evidenced by its use on the T-shirt to protest against Pence on Monday.
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 hecklers and protesters several times in the past, particularly from die-hard Trump supporters who consider the former vice president a traitor for refusing to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The former vice president stuck to his guns that day, claiming he took a vow to uphold the Constitution — and did so by overseeing the certification of Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021.
Although Pence arguably has one of the highest name recognition ratings among Trump’s other dozen or so candidates, he is struggling to gain ground in polls and remains in the middle of the pack.