In some polls, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has taken a slight lead over front-runner Ron DeSantis. Ramaswamy held his own in a recent debate with other candidates, and in some polls, he has even taken a slight advantage over DeSantis.

Polls indicate that President Donald Trump has by far the most support, and he gave an interview to Tucker Carlson while the debate was in full swing. Trump’s interview garnered enormous viewership and was deemed the evening’s triumph.

In contrast, Ramaswamy stood out in the debate by criticizing his fellow participants’ entrenchment in the muck. Many applauded his performance and declared that Ramaswamy dominated the debate participants.

As evidenced by his recent interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Ramaswamy appears to continue his vehement opposition to the opinions of career politicians.

Monday night, Fox News presenter Sean Hannity confronted Ramaswamy regarding his campaign policies and previous statements. Mediate reports that Hannity began by addressing a statement he claimed Ramaswamy had made.

Hannity stated, “You said aid to Israel, our number one ally, the only democracy in the region, should end in 2028 and that they should be integrated with their neighbors.”

“That’s false,” Ramaswamy protested.

“That was the exact quote. You want me to read it?” Hannity asked.

“I can tell you the exact quote,” Ramaswamy replied.” What I said is it would be a mark of success if we ever got to a point in our relationship with Israel if Israel never needed the United States’ aid, and Sean, you know how politics is played. A lot of the other professional politicians who have been threatened by my rise have used that statement to say that I would cut off aid to Israel. That’s not correct. I’ve been crystal clear.”

Mediate continued that then, after Hannity asked Ramaswamy whether he understood “the importance of the strategic alliance,” “intelligence sharing in an area of the world where we have a lot of enemies,” and “how important it is with Iran especially seeking nukes,” Ramaswamy responded:

“I understand it I think more deeply than probably anybody in this race. I’ve traveled to Israel. I have business partners in Israel. The reality is this, by the end of my first term our relationship with Israel will be stronger than it ever has been because I will treat it as a true friendship, not just a transactional relationship.”

Hannity pushed, “Then why did you say that they shouldn’t have preferential treatment? Why did you say that Israel should not have preferential treatment from us? That’s a direct quote.”

“No, those are direct quotes from headlines summarized by opposition research fed to the fake news media,” Ramaswamy argued, before claiming that “Abraham Accords 2.0 is my top priority, which is to get Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar into that pact with Israel, and foremost, to have a partnership with Israel that does something really important for the U.S., which is to make sure that Iran never, ever, ever has nuclear capabilities.”

Ramaswamy went on to praise Israel’s policies, saying, “I would love Israel’s border policies in this country. I would love Israel’s tough-on-crime policies and strong national identity in this country. I would love an iron dome-like Israel has to defend itself against Hamas, which is a good thing for Israel. I want something like that here in the United States.”

Ramaswamy then stated his intention to be specific about the matter: “So I don’t read from the traditional GOP talking point binder that’s handed to traditional candidates, that’s true. That lends itself to be misquoted. But it’s actually a much more authentic commitment to Israel on the substance than just checking out the talking point of saying that we stand with Israel. That’s meaningless. I prefer substance.”

Watch the full interview:

Vivek is gaining momentum, particularly among young voters, as Ramaswamy’s “outsider” perspective on political issues gains immense popularity, and while President Trump claims the overwhelming majority of Republican votes, Vivek is gaining support among younger voters. He poses no threat to Trump, but he is rumored to be a strong candidate for a position in a future Republican administration.

Although Ron DeSantis was viewed as the leading challenger to Trump, he is not performing as well as some had anticipated. Numerous media outlets reported that Ramaswamy won the debate, with DeSantis or Nikki Haley in second place. But the statistics indicate that Trump won the evening during his interview with Carlson.

Fresh from his recent persecution in Atlanta, President Trump posted:

“Rumors are strong in political circles that Ron Sanctimonious, whose presidential run is a shambles, and whose poll numbers have absolutely crashed, putting him 3rd and 4th in some states, will be dropping out of the presidential race in orderr to run, in Florida, against Rick Scott for Senate. Now that’s an interesting one, isn’t it?”