Ramaswamy disagrees with Trump's Jan. 6 conduct but calls prosecutions 'dangerous precedent'

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, one of Donald Trump's rivals in the 2024 race and one of the former president's biggest defenders on the trail, said Sunday that while he would have made different judgments than Trump regarding Jan. 6 and the handling of classified documents -- those decisions shouldn't be grounds for prosecution.

"I do draw a distinction, George, between bad behavior and illegal behavior," Ramaswamy said in an interview with ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos. "And once we start conflating those two things, I think we're in a long, downward slide as a country."

Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and commentator, was relatively little known before his bid for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination thrust him into the spotlight.

He has been one of the most outspoken candidates in embracing Trump-style policies and in attacking the four criminal cases against Trump, who denies all wrongdoing.

Ramaswamy has committed to pardoning Trump if he is elected president and has said he will support Trump as the party's nominee if Trump has been convicted by the time of the election.

On "This Week," Stephanopoulos pressed him on those two views: disagreeing with some of Trump's conduct while still backing him.

"I disagree with a lot of what he did that day [of the Jan. 6 attack]. I said so at the time," Ramaswamy said.

He said he wouldn't have urged supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol, as Trump did two years ago, and he wouldn't have endorsed comPeting but unauthorized slates of electors before Congress -- an alleged criminal scheme detailed in two of Trump's indictments.

"But that is still different for saying that he should be prosecuted for it, which I think sets a dangerous precedent," Ramaswamy said.

"There's a difference between a bad judgment and a crime," he said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.