Multi-millionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy defends his racist remarks by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and others with the “great witch of the KKK.”
On Friday in Iowa, Ramaswamy claimed there was a “new Neo-racism on the left” — citing as an example the 2019 “Squad” member’s reported statement that “we don’t need any more brown faces who don’t want to be brown. voice.”
“I think it’s the same spirit to say that I can look at you and based on just the color of your skin that I know something about the content of your character — that I know something about the content of the point of view that you’re allowed to express,” Ramaswamy told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“For Ayanna Presley to tell me that, because of the color of my skin, I can express my views – that’s wrong.”
Vivek Ramaswamy argues that most of the racism he faces comes from the left.REUTERS
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy laughs at a joke during the Polk County Summer Sizzle fundraiser in Clive, Iowa, Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. AP
Pressley’s team called out Ramasamy’s statement in a fundraising pitch.
“We don’t normally engage in these malicious attacks but yesterday a line was crossed. One GOP candidate referred to Ayanna as a ‘modern-day witch of the KKK’ because she was outspoken against racial injustice,” her team said in the field, according to Politico. “This is backwards and dangerous, but that’s what it is.”
Ramaswamy made the comparison on Friday when asked about his experience as a person of color with racism in the US.
Kara Swisher is a journalist, who is registered as a Democrat and has been outspoken against conservatives. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
He pointed to 2019 comments from Pressley — and recently reporter Kara Swisher called him “RamaSMARMY” on social media.
“I think it’s offensive. And I think the fact that we’re taught to see each other based on our genetic makeup is something that would make the grand old witches of the KKK proud,” Ramaswamy said in Iowa, The Messenger reported.
CNN’s Dana Bash probed Ramaswamy about the comparison, juxtaposing Pressley’s nonviolent comments with the violence of the KKK, known for brutal crimes including rape and executions.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley explained her speech in 2019, saying that she was ‘talking about the collective impact of improving one’s life experience.’AFP via Getty Images
The 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur stood by his comments, countering that there is a mindset among some politicians “that if you’re black or brown, you have to have certain views.”
“We all agree that the KKK is a horrible organization that has had a toxic effect on our nation’s history. So since we can start from that point of agreement, now it allows us to say, who exactly is that organization more like today? he continued. “People who call for more racial discrimination based on skin color.”
Earlier in the interview, Bash asked Ramaswamy about Saturday’s shooting in Jacksonville, Fla., where a white gunman shot and killed three black men at a Dollar General store before killing himself.
Pressley is a progressive member of the so-called ‘Squad’ in the House.Getty Images
Law enforcement described the deadly rampage as racially motivated.
“It is a tragedy and my heart goes out to the family. This should not be happening in the United States and it is wrong,” Ramaswamy said.
“We need to have the courage in this country to bring back the practice of putting psychiatric patients who pose a risk to their communities back into psychiatric institutions.”
Vivek Ramaswamy has enjoyed a recent surge in 2024 GOP primary voting. AP
During a back-and-forth with Bash about the role of race in the shooting, Ramaswamy lamented the “racist culture in this country.” which he pinned on the media and politicians.
“I never found it again,” he said, when asked about his experience with white supremacy. “I’m sure the white supremacy boogeyman exists somewhere in America, I’ve never met him.”
Ramaswamy went on to argue that “most modern racism comes from the modern left.”
His debate performance on Wednesday night, in which several candidates on stage focused on him, was well received.
Ramasamy is currently running in third place with 7% support in the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate for the 2024 GOP contest.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
