GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says he can bring in 'voters of diverse shades of melanin' to the party by focusing on the economy

• Vivek Ramaswamy said that he could attract a diverse set of voters to back the GOP in 2024.
• During a Fox News interview, Ramaswamy said he can win the White House by focusing on the economy.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Friday said that he could appeal to "voters of diverse shades of melanin" by focusing on economic issues if primary voters make him the party's nominee in 2024.

During an appearance on Fox News, Ramaswamy mentioned a recent Politico report detailing the bleak feelings of Black and Hispanic voters over the performance of the economy under President Joe Biden as he made the case for his own candidacy.

In a focus group among minority voters, several respondents used words including "discouraged" and "pessimistic" to describe their views of an economy that in recent years has featured persistent inflation while also boasting stronger-than-expected jobs reports.

"I think this is a very significant opportunity … if the Republican Party has the good sense to step up and seize it," Ramaswamy told the network. "If I'm the nominee, as I expect and hope to be, we will bring along voters of diverse shades of melanin in droves and win this election in a landslide."

"A lot of Americans, white and Black alike, have been duped," he continued. "They understand the economy is in the toilet and their experience of it is no different just because they are fed the politics of racial division. If we stand up and speak the truth, we end up winning."

Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old entrepreneur who was raised by Indian immigrants, launched his campaign in February with little name recognition. In recent months, though, he has surged in the GOP race, often coming in third place behind former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.

In the FiveThirtyEight average of national Republican presidential polls, Trump currently sits at 53.7%, followed by DeSantis, who averages 14.8% support. Ramaswamy averages 8.4% of GOP primary support.

Ramaswamy has been a frequent presence in the early nominating states of Iowa and New Hampshire as he stumps for support among the voters of a party still defined by Trump.

Earlier this month, Ramaswamy faced blowback from Will Hurd, a fellow Republican presidential candidate and former Texas congressman, after the entrepreneur called Juneteenth a "useless" holiday two months after marking the occasion as a "celebration of the American dream."