Ramaswamy pushes fringe idea about Jan. 6 at Iowa town hall
In the final weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Vivek Ramaswamy, the entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate, is using an unusual strategy: relying on conspiracy theories.
At a CNN town hall in Des Moines on Wednesday evening, CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip asked Mr. Ramaswamy about previous comments in which he had said the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was an “inside job.” – a claim for which there is no evidence, and which has been refuted by numerous criminal charges and bipartisan congressional investigations.
Instead of going back on his comments, he dug into them.
“The reality is we know there were federal law enforcement agents in the field. We don’t know how many,” Mr Ramaswamy told the crowd at Grand View University, before Ms Phillip interrupted to clarify. “There is no evidence that there were federal agents in the crowd,” she said. Mr Ramaswamy suggested, without giving specific details, that he had seen ‘several informants suggesting this was the case’.
He turned to another conspiracy theory — involving the kidnapping plot against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Michigan Democrat. He alleged of some defendants in that case that “government agents induced them to do something they otherwise would not have done.” (That claim also has no evidence to support it.)
“I don’t want to have to interrupt you, I really don’t, but I don’t want you to mislead the public here –” Ms Phillip began, before Mr Ramaswamy redirected, claiming it was “mainstream media”. ‘outlets that were misleading.
Mr. Ramaswamy, who has continued to praise former President Donald J. Trump as he battled him for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, has slumped in the polls. At the same time, he has advanced conspiracy theories during the campaign, during debates and at the CNN event, including theories about the origins of Covid-19 and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Ms Phillip’s question on Wednesday related to Alan Hostetter, a January 6 defendant who invoked Mr Ramaswamy’s debate comments during his speech. sentencing hearing last week by claiming that conspiracy theories about the theft of the 2020 election are “no longer fringe.”
Mr Ramaswamy did not address Mr Hostetter’s comments and instead repeated false claims, drawing favorable responses from the crowd.
Mr. Ramaswamy’s combative attitude in public appearances was highlighted by Rylee Miller, a law student who said that Mr. Ramaswamy “seemed to have somewhat abandoned the tact and diplomacy that I would look for in a president.” He then asked a question on how Mr Ramaswamy would balance authenticity with a ‘presidential attitude’.
Mr Ramaswamy in his response referred to his role as a parent who would strive to “make our children proud” as president. But, he continued, voters should not want “a withering flower in the White House.”
Mr Ramaswamy also reiterated several disputed proposals he had called for during his campaign. He said he would end the birthright rights of the children of undocumented immigrants starting in January 2025. He reiterated his call to end aid to Ukraine and support an agreement “with some territorial concessions” for the country.
He also said he would support if the Supreme Court decides to “remove from the market” mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill that is being legally challenged.