Campaign

Vivek Ramaswamy claims ‘pervasive censorship’ to blame for Capitol riot

by Joe Jacquez - 07/14/23 10:05 PM ET

Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during the Family Leadership Summit, Friday, July 14, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy claimed the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol was caused by “pervasive censorship” during a campaign event in Iowa on Friday.

Ramaswamy, speaking with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson at the 2023 Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines, echoed claims by former President Trump that the 2020 election didn’t cause the insurrection, instead saying “pervasive censorship” did.

“What caused January 6 is pervasive censorship in this country in the lead up to January 6,” Ramaswamy argued. “You tell people in this country they cannot speak. That is when they scream. You tell people they cannot scream. That is when they tear things down.”

“Until we look ourselves in the mirror and admit truth on that, we will not move forward as a country,” he added.

His comments come after former Vice President Mike Pence — who is also running for the 2024 Republican nomination — painted a different picture.

Pence, at the same event, was aggressively questioned by Carlson, but he maintained the events of Jan. 6 were indeed a riot, although not going as far as to call it an insurrection.

“All I know for sure having lived through it at the Capitol is that it was a tragic day,” Pence said. “I’ve never used the word insurrection, Tucker, over the past two years, but it was a riot that took place at the Capitol that day.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the presumed challenger to former Trump for the GOP nomination, recently dodged a question about the capitol riot at a campaign event in New Hampshire.

“I wasn’t anywhere near Washington that day. I have nothing to do with what happened that day,” DeSantis said. “Obviously, I didn’t enjoy seeing, you know, what happened. But we gotta go forward on this stuff. We cannot be looking backwards and be mired in the past.”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie fired back at DeSantis, asking if he has a TV.

“Was he alive that day? Did he see what was going on? I mean, that’s one of the most ridiculous answers I’ve heard in this race so far,” Christie said.