Vivek Ramaswamy used a Republican presidential debate to launch a series of staggering claims as he hit out at fellow nominees.
The fiery debate saw the 38-year-old on the attack, with Nikki Haley being his main target.
He called out government “lies” as he made five separate claims over the course of the discussion.
“All three of them [Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie] have been licking Donald Trump’s boots for years”, was his first claim as he launched an offensive on his fellow Republicans.
Ramaswamy’s comments left the other candidates outraged
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“For money and endorsements. Ron DeSantis, you’ve been a great governor but you never would have been one without Donald Trump’s endorsement.
“Same thing with Chris Christie as a lobbyist, begging them for Covid money for special interests in New Jersey.”
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He proceeded to attack the “deep state”, attributing it for the country’s overriding problems.
Ramaswamy said the root of the US’s issues “aren’t even Joe Biden”, before stating Trump “at least tried to take on” the aforementioned “deep state”.
He continued: “We need somebody who is going to speak the truth to you.
“Why am I the only person on this stage who can say January 6th looks like an inside job?”, he said in relation to the Capitol Hill riots in June 2021.
The Republican presidential candidates came to blows again
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Ramaswamy spoke in relation to unfounded claims that the FBI arranged the January 6th siege on the Capitol.
Addressing recently declassified FBI documents regarding a Saudi graduate student who assisted two al-Qaeda hijackers in 2011, he asked: “That the government lied to us for 20 years about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in 9/11?”
The documents, declassified in 2022, found Omar al-Bayoumi was on the payroll of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence service, despite previous claims to the contrary.
However there was nothing to suggest the Saudi government or royal family assisted, or were aware of, the September 11th plot.
He went on to allege that white populations are being demographically and culturally replaced, asking: “That the Great Replacement Theory is not some right-wing conspiracy theory, but a basic statement of the Democrat Party’s platform?”
The candidate also addressed unfounded claims that the 2020 election, which Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden, was “stolen”.
He said: “That the 2020 election was indeed stolen by big tech? That the 2016 election, the one Donald Trump won for sure, was also one that was stolen by the national security establishment?
“There’s a reason I am the only person on the stage who can say these things. That’s what it is going to take, not people who were licking his boots one time but criticise him when it’s convenient.”
Fellow candidate Chris Christie hit out at Ramaswamy, dubbing him the “most obnoxious blowhard in America” during the tense debate.
The candidates at the debate remain long shots for the presidency, with Donald Trump continuing to dominate the polling.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
