2024 Republican challenger Vivek Ramaswamy floats the idea that the United States should leave the United Nations, saying there is no reason for “its continued existence”

Businessman and Republican 2024 candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told DailyMail.com on Thursday that it was time to start defunding international institutions that are hostile to the US and consider withdrawing from the United Nations altogether.

He has pushed his anti-establishment campaign to second place in the Republican primary according to a national poll released this week.

And on Thursday he took his message to New Hampshire, where he laid out how he planned to dismantle what he calls the “administrative state” of the country.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, he laid out his most radical plan yet for what he sees as returning sovereignty to the American people.

“I think the UN has outlived its institutional purpose,” he said.

“I think when the UN Human Rights Council is festooned with representatives from North Korea and Venezuela pontificating on human rights, I think it’s one of many examples of an institution that has fundamentally lost its way and really has no reason to continue to exist.”

The United States remains by far the largest donor to the UN, contributing more than $12 billion in 2021, just under a fifth of its total funding.

The Trump administration withdrew from both the UN Human Rights Council (which it accused of being biased against Israel and failing to hold abusers accountable) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (also due to perceived bias against Israel).

The Biden administration reversed both moves.

Meanwhile, Trump’s allies have continued their attacks on UN agencies and programs. They have singled out the World Health Organization for special attention, blaming it for reaching out to China and mishandling the COVID pandemic.

Ramaswamy said continued membership of the UN, which is based in New York City, should be based on whether it is in the best interests of the US.

“I would start with defunding certain programs,” he said in his van as he traveled to Manchester airport later in the day.

‘For me, it is not an ironclad principle that the United States remains in the UN. That is not set in stone. I think we have to assess what is in the American interest.’

The withdrawal would have a catastrophic effect on the UN and its efforts to promote peace, health and human rights throughout the world.

The United States remains by far the largest donor to the UN, contributing more than $12 billion in 2021, just under a fifth of its total funding.

Donald Trump removed the US from the UN Human Rights Council and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization due to perceived anti-Israel bias. Ramaswamy wants to follow that example and maybe even go further.

The UN was officially created on October 24, 1945, after China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other nations ratified its charter.

But Ramaswamy’s message signals the way much of the Republican camp has shifted toward Trump’s America’s No. 1 position.

And the 37-year-old businessman is confident that healthy fundraising and improving polling numbers mean he will be able to get his message across in the first Republican debate next month.

A poll released Thursday by Kaplan Strategies showed him tied for second with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 12 points. Trump leads the field with 48 percent.

His campaign against “wake-up” policies has led him to appeal to former Trump supporters who like the idea of ​​endorsing a younger, more articulate figure.

Attendees were delighted Thursday night when his appearance at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St Anselm College drew 27,000 viewers.

They heard him outline plans to dismantle the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Education, and reorganize the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

It’s part of a message that with his nerdy approach to regulations, law and the Constitution, he can succeed where Trump failed by draining the ‘swamp’.

In his public statements, he also hinted at his plans for the UN.

“Just as we will defund three-letter agencies domestically, we will defund three-letter agencies and foreign two-letter agencies that impede the sovereignty of the United States,” he said.

We are a sovereign nation.

“And we will protect our sovereignty without making financial institutions hostile to us.”