Vivek Ramaswamy has a natural gift for handling his critics.
As the nation’s first Millennial to run for president, Ramaswamy often diffused the disruptive rants of his detractors by giving them the mic and encouraging them to tell him their concerns. It was an effective tactic seen by many as a breath of fresh in an era of toxic political campaigns.
On Wednesday, that gracious spirit was once again tested by none other than Ann Coulter, who told the Republican she wouldn’t vote for him because he’s “an Indian.”
(Video: YouTube)
A guest on Ramaswamy’s “The Truth Podcast,” Coulter began by praising her host’s “fantastic monologue.”
“I too am a fan of yours, so I’m going to make a point of disagreeing with you so it will be fun,” Coulter said. “You are so bright and articulate, and I guess I can call you articulate since you’re not an American black.”
“Can’t say that about them,” she added. “That’s derogatory.”
“I agreed with many, many things you said during– in fact, probably more than most other candidates when you were running for president,” Coulter continued, “but I still would not have voted for you because you’re an Indian.”
“We’ll get back to that,” she promised. “It’s directly related to what you were just talking about.”
If she was hoping for a reaction, she was denied.
Ramaswamy donned a poker face and patiently allowed her to explain.
“There is a core national identity that is the identity of the WASP and that doesn’t mean we can’t take anyone else in, a Sri Lankan, or a Japanese, or an Indian, but the core around which the nation’s values are formed is the WASP,” Coulter said.
“We’ve never had a president who didn’t have at least partial English ancestry. Never,” she stated. “We’ve only had one Catholic president [sic]. There was only one Catholic signatory to the Declaration of Independence. They were all not only protestants, but pretty much Presbyterian.”
When Coulter finished making her point, Ramaswamy sought common ground, arguing they’d both agree that American citizenship is about “loyalty” and are both against dual citizenship.
That established, Ramaswamy asked, “is on that axis of citizenship, what does ethnicity have to do with the matter?”
“You’ve got the WASP Seventh Generation descendant of some rich guy on the Upper East Side in Brooklyn that pretends to hate this country because it’s the cool thing to do, versus somebody who came here as the is the kid of immigrants but pledges loyalty to this country,” he said.
The hourlong discussion was “riveting,” Ramaswamy later wrote on X.
“[Ann Coulter] told me flat-out to my face that she couldn’t vote for me ‘because you’re an Indian,’ even though she agreed with me more than most other candidates,” he wrote. “I disagree with her but respect she had the guts to speak her mind. It was a riveting hour.”
“Vivek maintained composure and worked to find any common ground with Coulter,” one impressed user noted on X. “Masterclass on how to be unoffendable.”
Vivek maintained composure and worked to find any common ground with Coulter.
Masterclass on how to be unoffendable.
— News Nomad (@The_Nomad_News) May 8, 2024
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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