Vivek Ramaswamy says Ohio could suffer same fate as France ‘unless we embrace the values that made America different’

WESTERVILLE — Ohio is not immune to the civil unrest that has led to widespread vandalism and destruction in France, a gubernatorial candidate warned.

“I think France offers a cautious, illustrative example of what can happen in this country unless we embrace the values that made America different — a belief in freedom, a belief in opportunity, a belief in meritocracy — and it’s really sad to see these protests wreck great cities and places like Paris and other cities in France,” Republican Vivek Ramaswamy said in response to a question from Ohio.News.

“Make no mistake, that kind of socialism could spread to the United States and to places like Ohio unless we actually guard against it,” he added. “So I’m going to be a governor who stands for individual liberty, and part of what I can do to help prevent that from happening in Ohio is number one: fix education, improve civic education in our youth, teaching kids to be proud of our country and our national values rather than to be ashamed of it. I think that’ll go a long way.”

Ramaswamy spoke with reporters following a Faith & Freedom Town Hall at CrossPointe Church in Westerville.

“The other thing that we have to do is to really get serious about enforcing the rule of law,” Ramaswamy said. “That means backing the blue. That means … collaborating with federal law enforcement [for anyone in the country illegally] where necessary. Go after Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse.

“These are areas where a governor can actually make a difference, and I think those are practical ways to say that if what we see happening in France, or, for that matter, have seen in places like Minneapolis or New York City or Los Angeles, to make sure that we here in Ohio remain a sanctuary of sanity rather than a state with sanctuary cities, and I think that that’s a very reasonable way to accomplish a goal that most Ohioans agree on,” he added. “We just need a common-sense governor who’s actually going to get it done.”