Ramaswamy calls for unity, defends Trump's immigration plan

Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate and ally of Donald Trump, said the president-elect would bring the country together while also defending Trump's immigration plan for mass deportations.

Speaking to "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl, Ramaswamy urged Democrats to give Trump a chance in office and called on them to resist efforts to cast him as a threat to democracy.

"What you're hearing from Donald Trump is he is going to be a president for all Americans. He is a guy who, in that first term, he had crowds chanting 'lock her up' for Hillary Clinton. He didn't prosecute her. I think Donald Trump is focused on what makes people's lives better. And actually, my message to Democrats out there, even those who didn't vote for Donald Trump, is to give him a chance to actually make your life better," Ramaswamy said.

"I think it's time to turn the page on a lot of these histrionics, or Hitler comparisons," he added, before later saying that "success is unifying. Nothing's going to unite this country more than economic growth."

Ramaswamy ran against the former and now president-elect in the 2024 GOP primary as a culture warrior in Trump's image, though he ended his campaign the night of the Iowa caucuses and endorsed the former president.

On Sunday, he also defended Trump's vow for a mass deportation force, predicting that the tougher enforcement measures will also lead to undocumented immigrants leaving the country on their own.

"Donald Trump's campaign promise was the largest mass deportation in American history, and he's going to keep that promise," Ramaswamy said. "Not an iota, not a cent of government spending should go to subsidize this, not to sanctuary cities, not to federal aid to people who are in this country illegally, and we're going to see a large number, by the millions, of self-deportations as well."

Pressed by Karl on the fate of the so-called "Dreamers" -- people who were brought to the United States as children without valid documentation -- Ramaswamy declined to explicitly say how the incoming administration would approach this group of undocumented immigrants, which includes many adults who have spent most of their life in the U.S. During his first term, the Trump administration attempted to rescind the Obama-era program that allowed such migrants to stay and work in the country.

"I say this as the kid of legal immigrants to this country, as the proud child of legal immigrants to the United States of America. If your first act of entering this country broke the law, that doesn't allow you to remain in this country," Ramaswamy said. "One is, no migration without consent. Think about your nation like a body. Number two is that consent should only be granted, and should be granted to migrants who benefit the United States of America. But those who enter without consent must be removed."

As a vocal Trump ally, Ramaswamy is thought of as a potential future member of the Trump administration, though he did not specify what role would interest him.

"There's a couple great options on the table. I want to have the biggest possible impact on this country. We're not going to sort that out in the press… we're having some high-impact discussions."