Vivek Ramaswamy, a presidential candidate in the 2024 Republican primary, said he refused to “bend the knee” to “woke-ism” in response to a Washington Post reporter’s question about white supremacy during an Iowa campaign event on Tuesday. The GOP candidate also criticized mainstream media for dividing the country.
The Washington Post reporter asked Ramaswamy whether he condemned “white supremacy and white nationalism” after the 2024 presidential candidate received the endorsement of former Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa).
According to The New York Times, King has been accused of racism for statements some people have claimed appear to be accepting of white supremacy.
Ramaswamy shared a video of his answer to the reporter’s question on X, formerly Twitter, stating, “After Steve King announced he was endorsing me, predictably a lame reporter from @WaPo tried to get me to play the game of ‘denouncing white supremacy,’ while she refused to actually define ‘white supremacy’ which in recent years encompasses concepts like ‘punctuality’ & ‘the written word.’ I refused to play along with her game.”
In the video, Ramaswamy explained, “Of course I condemn any form of vicious racial discrimination in this country. But I think that the presumption of your question is fundamentally based on a falsehood that that really is the main form of racial discrimination we see in this country today.”
The 2024 presidential candidate suggested that institutionalized racism in America is “based on affirmative action” since affirmative action discriminates against individuals on the basis of “the color of their skin.”
READ MORE: Video: Ramaswamy gives scathing rebuke of mainstream media
Ramaswamy pointed to the Jussie Smollett incident, criticizing the media for reporting a false case of racism that eventually was discovered to have been a paid set-up by the actor. Ramaswamy told the media to “stop picking on this farce of some figment that exists at some infinitesimally small fringe of the American public today.”
When the Washington Post reporter claimed that Ramaswamy did not answer the original question, the GOP candidate replied, “Do I condemn vicious racial discrimination? Yes, I do. Am I gonna play your silly game of ‘gotcha’? No, I’m not, and frankly this is why people have lost trust.”
“I’m not pledging allegiance to your new religion of modern woke-ism,” Ramaswamy added. “I’m not gonna bend the knee to your religion,” he added.
The 2024 presidential candidate told the press that mainstream media is “responsible” for “dividing this country to a breaking point” and “creating a projection of national division.”
“You want to know what the best way is to end discrimination on the basis of race?” Ramaswamy asked. “Stop discriminating on the basis of race. Do that and we’re gonna to move this country forward.”
