Vivek Ramaswamy says former President Donald Trump has been "receptive" to advice that the Republican presidential nominee spend more time expressing policy differences with Vice President Kamala Harris than issuing personal attacks.
Ramaswamy, who spent time running for the 2024 GOP nomination, told Politico that Republicans have endured a "missed opportunity" by not talking enough about Harris' policy stances.
"I think if we're able to say … 'This is our vision for the entire United States' … then we go down the list and say, 'Here are the policies that Kamala Harris has [not only] stood for in the past but that she has actually taken steps to implement …. I think we can win this thing not only by a small margin, but still in something that resembles a landslide," Ramaswamy told Politico.
"But that's not up to anybody else but us. And so that's the work we have cut out for our own side. And if we do it, I think we win. And if not, I think we lose."
Ramaswamy said he personally delivered that message to Trump, who has been "receptive."
The entrepreneur pointed to Harris' decision to name progressive Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate as an ideal opportunity to "shift the focus to policy."
"That is the first presidential-style decision that we've actually seen her make," Ramaswamy said. "She could have gone the direction of a centrist, a moderate like [Pennsylvania Gov.] Josh Shapiro. She didn't. She made an affirmative decision to say, I want to go in the direction of somebody who has instead increased taxes in the states that he led … at least helped fuel a wave of violent rioting and protesting in his state, one of the most climate policy-forward governors."
Until July 21, the Trump campaign had planned to run against President Joe Biden.
The two men participated in a June 27 CNN-hosted debate, in which Biden's disastrous performance led Democrat leaders such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former President Barack Obama to push the president out of the race.
Biden quickly threw his support behind Harris.
Trump spoke policy Wednesday during a rally in Asheville, North Carolina, where he gave a major economic speech. The GOP nominee said the centerpiece of his plan to reduce the cost of living for Americans is to slash energy prices by half within the first 18 months of him taking office.
"I'm announcing today that under my leadership, the United States will commit to the ambitious goal of slashing energy and electricity prices by half, at least half," Trump told a raucous crowd. "We intend to slash prices by half within 12 months, at a maximum 18 months."