An Indian-origin student, Aaryan Pathak, asked Republican Ohio Governor candidate some tough questions on GOP's 'hypocrisy' as Ramaswamy headlined a recent TPUSA event at Ohio State University. Introducing himself as an OSU student, Pathak asked Ramaswamy that a TPUSA journalist recently mocked a Texas Hindu temple but Ramaswamy, a Hindu GOP leader, was sitting at their event. He also told Ramaswamy that Charlie Kirk was against Ramaswamy on the H-1B visa program.
"How can I call myself a genuine Republican when there's an increasing amount of people who, because of my skin color, because of who I believe in, and the practice of my religious faith, see me as someone that's not a part of their tradition?" Pathak asked pointing out that on one hand, there is a rise in Asian-Americans in the GOP and on the other, there is an increasing hate against them. He asked whether it was a strategy for the GOP for a post-Trump era.
Ramaswamy said he criticized both woke left and radical right. "I am nobody's pawn, I am my own man. I don't report to anybody but to myself and to God at the end of the day who I believe puts each of us here for a purpose and the other thing is I will never defend the indefensible," Ramaswamy said.
"I criticized the woke left when I was the CEO of all the companies that were buying into it. I went the other way. I will be unapologetic and I will not mince words in criticizing the same kind of quasi-socialist, quasi-discriminatory, self-hating ideology emerging on the right. I will call it out in 360 degrees wherever I see it," Ramaswamy said, adding that he believes in true conservative policies which means believing in success.
On Charlie Kirk's opposition to H-1B, a visa program that Ramaswamy supports but now mostly stays away from it, Ramaswamy said hypocrisy is everywhere in life. "It's not a good point that you can nitpick and take one person's quote and match it to their party. The beauty of conservative movement and one of the reasons I worked hard to get Donald Trump elected in 2024 is that I believe there's a big tent with room for healthy disagreement like we are having tonight."
"Charlie and I grew very close. We would have debates where we agree on 95% of things. We disagree on 5% but exhibit a culture of mutual respect that at minimum is committed to the principles of American founding," Ramaswamy said.
