Republican Presidential Hopeful Refuses To Disavow White Supremacy
Ramaswamy gets into heated exchange with reporter over former lawmaker's stance
A prominent rival to frontrunner Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination refused to condemn white supremacy or a former congressman associated with white nationalism who endorsed him.
Vivek Ramaswamy got into a heated tussle Wednesday during an on-camera interview with NBC News.
A wealthy pharmaceutical entrepreneur, Ramaswamy was asked about the endorsement of him by former Republican congressman Steve King, who was condemned as a racist by some officials in his own party.
King was stripped of his committee assignments because of his embrace of white nationalism and was ultimately defeated for reelection in his Iowa district in a Republican primary election.
Ramaswamy, who has declined to aggressively criticize Trump, has been mentioned as a potential Trump running mate or top official in a second Trump administration.
“People asked me even last night, will you denounce white supremacy? We live in a moment where, don’t forget, a lot of the left has defined white supremacy to include things like punctuality or the written word,” Ramaswamy claimed, without evidence. “This is just as of a couple of years ago, even many in academia and otherwise, have said concepts like this are vestiges of white supremacy.
“These words have ceased to mean anything. And so, if somebody wants to define white supremacy for me, then we can actually have a serious conversation about it, but until then I think a lot of this is actually a charade,” he added. “I think Steve King was defeated in part because of a donor establishment that used toxic influence on money in politics to be able to disfavor him.
“But this is somebody who I believe is a patriot, I’m proud to have his endorsement, I’m not afraid to say it, and I think that that’s what makes me different than a lot of the other candidates,” Ramaswamy added.
He also got into a heated back-and-forth with NBC News reporter Dasha Burns.
Here's an excerpt of that exchange:
RAMASWAMY: “So, you can’t have it both ways. You have to have an honest discussion.”
BURNS: “Look, Mr. Ramaswamy, this is what you do, though. You choose strawman arguments.”
RAMASWAMY: “I’m not — this is not a strawman. This is not a strawman.”
BURNS: “Last night you brought up Jussie Smollett as the best example of white supremacy.”
Actor Jussie Smolett was convicted in Chicago in relation to a 2019 hate crimes hoax.
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