First things first, folks. My purpose in writing this is NOT to tell you who you should caucus for. It is NOT to tell you who I am caucusing for. I think I know who I will caucus for, but I’m not 100 percent there.
My purpose for writing this is simple — I do not believe Vivek Ramaswamy is getting a fair shake from some people and I believe he is a key cog to the future of the conservative movement in America.
Now, the second thing I want to admit upfront — and sit down because this will likely shock you — I have been wrong before. I’ve been fooled before by people running for political office. I’ve thought they seem legitimately conservative and they weren’t. And the really bad news is I’ll probably be fooled at least a couple more times.
So, do NOT take this as an endorsement. Please just take this as one person sharing their experience “vetting” one of the presidential candidates. Because that’s all it is.
I have said this before, and I will say it again, the first few times I was at an event Vivek spoke at I didn’t listen to him. I ignored him. I snapped a few photos, but that was it. It was not until Tucker Carlson interviewed Vivek at The FAMiLY Leader’s event in the summer that I finally stopped what I was doing during a Vivek talk, looked up and listened. Here is the moment that sparked my interest:
TRUTH #1: The real cause of Jan 6 was systematic & pervasive censorship and wrongdoing in the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential election — Covid, lockdowns, Antifa riots, Hunter Biden laptop, and irregularities in election conduct.#EntrapmentDay pic.twitter.com/29gdcYWlPO
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 6, 2024
At that point, I thought, alright, let’s give this guy a look. I had said very similar things about Jan. 6 as someone who was there. And yes, I know, Vivek has changed his perspective on Jan. 6. And for that, he gets criticism.
But I wonder, since when did changing your opinion based on facts become a bad thing? Since when did having the humility to admit you were wrong become a bad thing?
I was there on Jan. 6. Vivek wasn’t. I have often wondered had I not been there that day, what would I believe about the events surrounding it? All we can do is try to bring people along with us. Vivek, in my opinion, has come along with us and is now the most outspoken person running for President as it relates to Jan. 6.
Vivek has rightly pointed out concerns in the debate process. Why do liberal media personalities moderate Republican debates? Why don’t Joe Rogan, Greg Gutfeld and Tucker moderate Republican debates? Why was Vivek the first candidate to ask that during a debate? Why was Vivek the only candidate during an RNC-sanctioned debate to implore a change in leadership at the RNC?
Why is Vivek the only major candidate speaking out against eminent domain being used for the carbon capture pipelines? Why is Vivek the only one highlighting the lack of wisdom in the premise of the carbon capture pipelines to begin with?
Who else is talking about Jan. 6 and calling it entrapment? Who else is talking about the Great Replacement Theory? Who else is highlighting the DOJ’s hand in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer? Who else doesn’t budget on those most controversial things when pressed by the media? Like this…
https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1735136022684635271
Vivek was so effective, that CNN cut short its own town hall with him because he highlighted the truths about Jan. 6. The next day CNN threatened his campaign on the phone with a cease-and-desist and had YouTube black out the town hall after it received more than 200,000 views in a matter of hours. If you’re wondering, Nikki Haley’s CNN town hall was still up after six months — with 68,000 total views.
CNN was so upset with Vivek, they told his campaign that multiple qualifying polls the RNC used for the RNC debates wouldn’t count for CNN’s Jan. 10 debate in Iowa.
I have heard people claim Vivek is a Soros plant because he received a $50,000 college scholarship from Paul Soros, a relative of George. I have a few thoughts on that. One, while Soros is not a good guy, he isn’t an idiot. If he were going to “plant” someone in the race, there wouldn’t be a paper trail.
And if it’s bad for Vivek to have received a $50,000 college scholarship, what about the $160 million loan another candidate received from the actual George Soros for a real estate deal? And I’ve read that the loan wasn’t fully paid back. What about another candidate having a fundraiser held for him by a business partner of George Soros?
Then Vivek gets lumped in with the World Economic Forum despite suing the WEF and winning. Meanwhile, another candidate is on tape saying Klaus Schwab is doing a great job.
Now, this next objection is real. Many have concerns about Vivek’s Hindu faith. And I totally get it. But when was the last time we think we really had a Christian as a President?
Vivek talks about faith more than any of the major candidates. Heck, I think he might talk about it more than the others combined. He went to a Catholic high school and graduated as valedictorian. He speaks about reading the Ten Commandments for the first time as a high school freshman. He speaks about how those values were instilled in him by his own parents. He notes those values aren’t unique to Hindus or Christians, but are instead shared values.
As one pastor from Sibley who asked Vivek about Jesus put it, he believes Vivek has the fear of God in him. Vivek acknowledges he will not be the best person to spread Christianity across America as President, but he does say he strives to make family, hard work and faith cool again.
Personally, I hope Vivek does eventually come to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. And I hope everyone who is writing him off for President because of his Hindu faith is also praying for that. Because that matters more than this.
Does that mean they have to vote for him to be President? Of course not. But if we’re not praying for him to come to have a saving faith through Jesus Christ then we aren’t doing our most basic duty as Christians.
If voters do not vote for Vivek because he isn’t a Christian, then I hope they apply that standard equally across the board.
Things really turned for me concerning Vivek at the Sioux Center Pizza Ranch. I had 20 minutes for a one-on-one with him while he also tried to grab a bite to eat between stops.
During these 20 minutes, we discussed various issues. I asked him if he would’ve signed the Respect for Marriage Act as President. He said he would not have. We talked about abortion. We talked about a few other issues.
But more than that, I saw him interact with his oldest son and his wife. His tenor and tone were the same in those interactions as it was when he was talking to me. And the same as it was when he talked in front of the people gathered.
That experience, again, allowed me to become a little more willing to listen to him.
Vivek relates to younger voters like no other Republican I have ever seen. He also has a way of explaining things in an engaging way that also educates. And educates in a way that everyone in the room can understand what he is talking about.
He stresses he will not promise to do anything he cannot do as President — meaning he will not promise to do something as President if it also requires congressional approval. He has a constitutional foundation for his plans — whether it is shedding the federal bureaucracy, budgeting, closing the border, deporting illegal aliens, ending birthright citizenship, etc. He wants to remove the liability protections put in place for vaccine manufacturers. He doesn’t want America to fight endless wars. He doesn’t want America to spend another $8 trillion on wars like they did in Iraq and Afghanistan that failed to advance American interests. This is something I would’ve disagreed with him passionately about 10 years ago.
He takes questions from everybody. I used to think it was orchestrated. But I’ve seen it enough to know it’s not.
He seems to have a genuine care for people. Again, this is something I first saw in videos on Twitter and thought was staged. But then I saw it in real life after the event he hosted against eminent domain for the pipelines and I realized it is real.
I understand the concern that he is a “Republican Obama.” I get it. But I don’t share it any longer.
I believe Vivek is just a sharp guy. He is educated. He is articulate. I don’t believe those are bad qualities.
More than any of the others in the race, Vivek has been the most fair to Donald J. Trump. I believe this is why Trump has been mostly complimentary of Vivek. I believe Vivek’s tone on Trump has been appropriate as well.
Vivek also has demonstrated an ability to destroy media personalities during live interviews without just resorting to attacks and name-calling. His defense of Steve King was brilliant. His response when asked repeatedly about whether Vivek — who isn’t exactly the palest guy in the world — is opposed to white supremacy was also brilliant.
Why else do I not believe Vivek is a plant? Because he is saying things those who would put a plant in the race don’t want out there, let alone said, publicly, in a presidential race.
Like I said earlier, I’ve been wrong before. I could be wrong about Vivek. I sure hope not for the sake of the future of the GOP. I don’t agree with Vivek on everything, but I think the future of the conservative movement is stronger with him involved than without him.
Does all of this mean I think Vivek should be President now? That’s not what I’m saying. Does it mean I don’t think he should be President? That’s not what I’m saying. I think every single one of us can come to our own conclusion on that. We all have different things that matter most to us.
The important thing is we vote for the person who has earned our vote. Not the person we think will win, but rather the person who should win. For some of us, that is Donald J. Trump. For others, it is Ron DeSantis. For others, it is Vivek.
Let’s not pretend there aren’t concerns about the other two men mentioned above. None of these candidates are perfect. But I also don’t think I need to do a rundown on things I don’t like about these three candidates. All of them have positives. All of them have negatives. Each of us as voters needs to decide based on our criteria who we support.
So please, do not take this as me saying you should vote for Vivek. But do take it as me saying please don’t write him off without taking a chance to get to know him.
I almost blew the chance and missed the opportunity. I’m glad I didn’t. I hope you give him a chance too. He may not win in 2024, but I don’t think he’ll be going away. And in 2028, and well into the future, we’ll need someone other than Donald J. Trump to carry the America First torch. He’s on that list because he’s earned it.
I don’t know that there is a better conclusion than simply including the words of left-wing socialist Van Jones:
“And the smug, condescending way that he just spews his poison out is very, very dangerous because he won’t stop Trump, but he’s going to outlive Trump by about 50 years. And you’re watching the rise of an American demagogue that is a very, very despicable person and literally, I was shaking listening to him talk. Because a lot of people don’t know, that is one step away from Nazi propaganda.”
CNN’s Van Jones says he was literally shaking as Vivek spouted “Nazi” talking points. If someone’s political opinions make you shake with fear, you’re a complete and total pussy. Period. pic.twitter.com/li0jyUj1w7
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) December 7, 2023
Yeah. Put me down for more of whoever and whatever made Van Jones feel that way. Of course, it isn’t just Van Jones. Here is more reaction from CNN following Vivek’s town hall on the network.
– CNN Senior Media “Reporter” Oliver Darcy wrote a newsletter that castigated his own network for “allowing [me] to infect the public with his conspiracy campaign.
– CNN Commentator Van Jones said he was “literally shaking” when he heard me speak. And my rhetoric is “one step away from Nazi propaganda.”
-CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper said I delivered a “soliloquy of conspiracy theories.”
-CNN Anchor Pamela Brown and “Chief Investigative Correspondent” said Vivek has a “history of peddling disinformation.”
-CNN Anchor Kaitlan Collins said I use a “reasonable tone” to sell sinister lies to people “who aren’t paying close attention” and might think what he is saying “maybe is legitimate.”
-CNN’s token “conservative” commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin said my rhetoric is “damaging to the country.”
Vivek may not deserve your vote, but when someone can make people squirm like that, they at least deserve a chance.
You say no other candidate is talking about Jan. 6th and calling it entrapment? Really! How about President Trump? Yes, the guy is being held guilty until proven innocent.