Pardoning Trump will 'move our country forward': Vivek Ramaswamy

Republican 2024 hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has confirmed he will pardon former President Donald Trump if elected president, suggesting the pardon would move America forward.

During a Sunday, July 30 interview on CNN's State of the Union, guest host Kasie Hunt asked Ramaswmy, "Would you still pardon him if you were president?

Ramaswamy answered, "The standard I use is: Our next president is what moves our country forward. What is the right thing for the United States of America?"

READ MORE: Nikki Haley: 'I would be inclined' to pardon Donald Trump

Hunt interjected, asking, "Right, and would having a president like this move it forward?

The GOP candidate replied, "I would pardon him. I intend to be our next president and yes, I do believe I will move us forward. And yes, I think one of the right ways to do that is to pardon the former president of the United States from what is clearly a politicized prosecution. And I'll share a view with you, Kasie. This is not specific to Trump. This is part of my broader view on the justice system in our country. I think that our general norm in our Justice Department is you should not convict somebody of a process crime when there was no actual underlying crime. I think that's a major problem."

Hunt asked, "So, you think destroying evidence is a process crime?"

He said, "I think it is, by definition, a process crime. Any legal scholar will agree with me on that statement. That is by definition a process crime: a crime that would not have existed but for the existence of an investigation. And if we look ourselves in the mirror over the last several years, even look at the acquittals in the Gretchen Whitmer case, the fact that two people were acquitted of entrapment, I think it is a bad habit that our FBI and DOJ have gotten into, intervening and creating crimes that would not have existed but for their action. I think as it relates to moving forward as a country, I absolutely think the right answer for the country is to put the grievances of the past behind us—to pardon President Trump—so we can move forward as one nation rather than marching to a national divorce."

READ MORE: 'Thug' Trump will promise co-conspirators a pardon to shut them up: ex-Trump aide

Ramaswamy's GOP 2024 opponent, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, recently shared she would do that same if elected president in 2024.

However, Ramaswamy's comment comes the same day 2024 GOP hopeful and former Arkansa Governor Asa Hutchinson said he believes "anybody who promises pardons during the presidential campaign is not serving our system of justice well and it's inappropriate," according to The Hill.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: No president in US history 'abused the pardon power' more 'brazenly' than Trump: author

The Hill's full report is available at this link.