GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy vows if elected to pardon Trump

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has vowed if elected to pardon former President Trump, who's now been charged in two cases.

He made the declaration after Trump announced on social media that he had been indicted in connection with presidential documents he took upon leaving the White House, then stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

“It would be much easier for me to win this election if Trump weren’t in the race, but I stand for principles over politics,” Ramaswamy wrote on Twitter Thursday. “I commit to pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025 and to restore the rule of law in our country.” 

To be sure, the most recent RealClearPolitics.com polls average has Trump with 53.2% of the likely vote, compared to 2.6% for Ramaswamy.

Trump also said he must appear Thursday at a Miami courthouse Tuesday in connection with the Justice Department indictment. His legal team has since confirmed that information. But the Justice Department has yet to comment. 

“I never thought we’d see the day when the U.S. president deputizes the DOJ to arrest his lead rival in the middle of an election,” Ramaswamy wrote. 

In April, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. indicted Trump for allegedly falsifying New York business records to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity.