An unhinged reporter for the leftist Washington Post was manhandled by Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy after asking if the former businessman condemned white supremacy.
The incident unfolded during a town hall meeting in Bettendorf, Iowa, Tuesday, where the reporter asked Ramaswamy about his endorsement from former Iowa Congressman Steve King, who the New York Times labeled a white supremacist.
Following his response rejecting the Times’ criticism, the reporter told Ramaswamy, “You didn’t say that you condemn white supremacy,” sending the presidential candidate off on a passionate tirade condemning the mainstream media.
I’m not going to recite some catechism for you. I’m against vicious racial discrimination in this country. So I’m not pledging allegiance to your new religion of modern wokeism, which actually fits the test. 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 racial 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. And I know you’re going to go print the headline tomorrow. I already know this. We already know how your game works. ‘Vivek Ramaswamy Refuses to Condemn White Supremacy,’ because you asked a stupid question. The reality is, I condemn vicious racial discrimination in this country, but the kind of vicious and systematic racial discrimination we see today is discrimination on the basis of race in a very different direction.
You want to know what the best way is to end discrimination on the basis of race? Stop discriminating on the basis of race. Do that and we’re going to move this country forward. And I don’t care whether you’re black or white or brown or anything in between. That’s how we’re going to unite this country. You people have been responsible for dividing this country to a breaking point, creating a projection of national division. I meet people from the south side of Chicago to meetings like this one of every shade of melanin, multiple from man to woman, doesn’t make a difference, who are for reviving unity in this country and you with your catechism that you try to get these politicians to [say] whatever fake headline you’re going to print on the basis of this conversation tomorrow. That’s what’s dividing this country for a break to a breaking point. Shame on you. Look people in the eye and tell them what you’ve actually failed to tell them for the last five years. Own the accountability for your own failures as the media. That’s how we rebuild trust in this country. And until then, I don’t have a lot of patience to play the games.
Bonus: Here’s Ramaswamy playing Mozart’s “Rondo Alla Turca.”