There are many issues concerning Vivek Ramaswamy, namely his authenticity, since he doesn’t come off as a serious candidate. Then again, the billionaire entrepreneur has delivered haymakers to political rival Nikki Haley and the moderators of the NBC-sponsored GOP debate. If there is one thing Vivek excels at, it’s destroying the liberal media in real-time. The man had Soros connections and dabbled in that progressive pool, so that might give him a leg up on some of these exchanges, which have been enthralling to watch. The sheer brutality he channels to shred these people’s scripts should be commended.
The speed at which he eviscerates liberal narratives is also impressive. The media is hung up on this white supremacy kick. They think it’s an even larger threat than radical Islamic terrorism. They will try to thread that into any situation, so when Vivek came to play with NBC News, they didn’t know what to do and showed. Reporter Dasha Burns, visibly frustrated that she was unable to flank the presidential candidate, tried to run the same plays the Washington Post attempted to execute regarding this question about white nationalism. It didn’t work:
Vivek handles Regime Media like a boss.
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) January 5, 2024
NBC News reporter Dasha Burns has a meltdown as Vivek shreds her scripted reality. pic.twitter.com/PUuhjZl7Dj
Setting aside Vivek's handling of the questions -- are there any related examples of a reporter going hammer and tongs at a Democrat at any point in recent years? The same way that this routinely happens to Republicans? https://t.co/766EqfsZyD
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) January 5, 2024
It's been amusing to watch these journalists ask @VivekGRamaswamy questions, only to promptly interrupt his answer to said questions..while screeching & literally melting down. So unprofessional. Once this reporter finally shuts up, Vivek's answer is brilliant. And factual. https://t.co/xWo3QQNcGR
— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) January 5, 2024
Rebecca wrote about Vivek’s dismantling of that Washington Post reporter’s race-baiting question about condemning white supremacy. That back-and-forth was also a massacre, where Vivek knew what the reporter is going to do before she did, and it was delicious to watch:
I asked Vivek if he condemned white supremacy. Vivek said to “stop picking on this farce of some figment that exists at some infinitesimally small fringe.” He said he condemns “vicious racial discrimination” but would not “bend the knee” and condemn white supremacy. https://t.co/mwNTKGKF1w
— Meryl Kornfield (@MerylKornfield) January 3, 2024
Meryl Kornfield, asked Ramaswamy "do you condemn white supremacy and white nationalism," leading to a noteworthy response from the candidate as the reporter continued to behave in a predictable fashion.
After getting it out of Kornfield which outlet she was with, to laughter from those at the event, Ramaswamy responded that "of course I condemn any form of vicious racial discrimination in this country," also adding that "but I think that the presumption of your question is fundamentally based on a falsehood that that really is the form of racial discrimination we see in this country today."
When it comes to other forms, Ramaswamy pointed to how "institutionalized racism is institutionalized racial discrimination that we see, that doesn't come from somehow discriminating against people on some tenant of white supremacy," but rather "is based on affirmative action."
[…]
...Kornfield jumped in to follow up with her claim "you didn't say that you condemn white supremacy," leading to an even stronger reaction from the candidate.
"I'm not going to recite some catechism for you. I'm against vicious racial discrimination in this country," Ramaswamy repeated. "So, I'm not pledging allegiance to your new religion of modern wokeism," he told Kornfield. "I'm not going to bend the knee to your religion, I'm sorry. I'm not asking you to bend the knee to mine, and I'm not going to bend the knee to yours. But do I condemn vicious discrimination? Yes, I do. Am I going to play your silly game of 'gotcha?' No, I'm not, and frankly this is why people have lost trust," he said about the mainstream media, repeating points made earlier in the exchange.
Making a prediction, Ramaswamy told Kornfield that "I know you're going to go print the headline tomorrow, I already know this," suggesting it would be along the lines of 'Vivek Ramaswamy Refuses to Condemn White Supremacy.'"
That’s not to say Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis are bad at handling the media—they’re not terrible. DeSantis is adept at embarrassing the media, as we see with his Florida governorship during COVID and the fake scandal concerning Publix and the distribution of the COVID vaccine peddled by CBS News. Vivek is more animated, however. Is it enough to win the GOP nomination? No. But it is refreshing to see Republicans not taking the Mitt Romney approach of allowing the media to walk all over you for months on end.