In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News, Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican presidential candidate, stood firm in his commitment to support Donald Trump if the former president were to secure the nomination again. Ramaswamy also expressed his belief in a perceived “deranged mental cultural state in the media” when it comes to Trump

Stephanopoulos probed Ramaswamy’s stance, highlighting his previous criticisms of Trump’s actions, particularly concerning January 6, and his statement that he wouldn’t engage in similar behavior. Stephanopoulos was puzzled, stating, “You find his actions abhorrent around January 6. You said he was wrong to take the classified information, you said you would not do that yourself. But you still say you would vote for him for President. That’s what I don’t get.”

Ramaswamy defended his position by asserting that he was following the tradition of previous Republican nominees who pledged to support their party’s nominee.

He went on to argue that Stephanopoulos’ line of questioning exemplified what he believed was wrong with the current cultural climate, characterized by excessive retrospective scrutiny and an undue fixation on one individual. Ramaswamy stated, “Looking backwards, obsessing over details in the past, going after one man, a deranged mental cultural state in the media.”

However, Stephanopoulos persisted, pointing out, “Sir, that man is the front-runner for the Republican nomination right now. He’s a former President of the United States. He’s leading you by 40 points. Yet you still say you would vote for him despite what you say about his behavior. That’s the question I am asking. It’s not an obsession. He’s the frontrunner right now.”

Ramaswamy responded by saying, “Just as I expect him to vote for me when I’m the nominee,” emphasizing the democratic nature of the U.S. electoral process. He concluded by expressing his concern about the state of political culture in the country, stating, “I think that the way elections work in the United States of America is that the people in a political party get to choose their nominee, and then the people from the general election get to choose their President. The fact that that’s a foreign idea shows how badly our political culture has decayed in this country.”