Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy revealed his father is not a U.S. citizen despite previously claiming on the campaign trail that both of his parents took the citizenship test.
Last month, for example, he explained to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at the Iowa State Fair what he believes should be required for 18-to-24-year-olds to vote.
“I think there’s no reason why every high school student who graduated in this country should not have to pass the same civics test that an immigrant, like my parents, had to pass in order to become a citizen of this country,” he said.
But on Tuesday, the entrepreneur admitted his father isn’t a U.S. citizen and “did not” take the test.
“And that’s a choice that he has made for familial reasons,” Ramaswamy told NBC News.
“But my mother did,” he added, noting that she took it after he was born. “And I think that every immigrant who comes to this country in order to become a full voting citizen has to do the same.”
In addition to the policy idea that Americans pass a civics test in order to vote, the GOP presidential candidate has also argued that birthright citizenship should end for children born in the U.S. to parents who came to America illegally.
“I want to be very clear about this. I think that birthright citizenship does not and should not apply to the kids of parents who entered this country illegally,” Ramaswamy said.
While he was born in this country to two noncitizens, Ramaswamy emphasized that both of his parents came to the U.S. legally.
3/ While Ramaswamy wants to take away the right to birthright citizenship from children born to undocumented immigrants, he himself gained citizenship by birthright - but says his parents came to the US *legally.
— Dasha Burns (@DashaBurns) September 21, 2023
During our intv Ramaswamy revealed his father is not a citizen: pic.twitter.com/47zgdbvR8m