Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy battled with CNN host Kaitlan Collins on her show Monday night after she aired a brief clip of him speaking about Taiwan.
"Guess what, we’ll put a gun in every Taiwanese household, train them how to use it, that is how you make Xi Jinping think twice," Ramaswamy said in a clip taken from a speech he gave in Iowa.
"Do you really think that would be a sufficient plan to deter a Chinese invasion, if it includes long-range missiles, ground troops, an aerial blockade, a naval blockade, all of the different measures here?" Collins asked Ramaswamy.
"Kaitlan, Kaitlan, Kaitlan, Kaitlan, Kaitlan! Of course it’s not sufficient," Ramaswamy said, repeating the anchor's name 5 separate times. "You take that tiny little clip, when I’ve articulated it," he said, getting interrupted by Collins.
"You posted that clip," Collins said.
Ramaswamy objected that the clip Collins showed her audience was a small part of his full set of recommended policies that would help deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
"Yes, part of this is turning Taiwan into a porcupine," Ramaswamy said. "I think exporting our Second Amendment is a relatively free or low-cost way to do that. But I find it laughable that you will take that clip and then put words into my mouth as though that was a sufficient deterrent. Kaitlan, with due respect, that’s a joke, especially when I’ve offered," he started again.
"It's not putting words into your mouth," Collins pushed back.
"I never said it was sufficient. I never said it was sufficient," Ramaswamy replied, laughing.
He also told Collins that the experience of being on her show was amusing and an example of how the "media works."
"This is really funny, Kaitlan," the GOP presidential contender said. "It’s been very educational for me to learn how media works. Yes, that is important. That is, no one ever said that was sufficient to deter an invasion."
"Kaitlan, you might be able to do this trick better with other candidates who don’t really know how to respond to the game," Ramaswamy added.
"It’s not a trick," Collins said back. "I’m just simply asking what your plan is with Taiwan and following up on something you suggested."
"But I will not allow someone to put words in my mouth, to say that I ever said that was ‘sufficient.’ It is not," he said. "I’m not putting words in your mouth," Collins again objected.
Ramaswamy has previously faced criticism over his policy stance on Taiwan. He has repeatedly vowed to defend Taiwan from China until the U.S. has "semiconductor independence" in 2028, if elected president. In August, he recommended taking U.S. destroyers from Japan, "one per month," and moving them through the Taiwan Strait to defend America's strategic interests in East Asia.
The candidate also said that he would potentially seek a "total decoupling" of Sino-American business relationships, enacting a federal ban on such until the Chinese Communist Party commits to and follows through with reforms.
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
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