Vivek Ramaswamy is “a performance artist” who appeals to the “dark parts of the American psyche,” according to Republican strategist and Fox News contributor Karl Rove.
The Republican strategist wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal published Wednesday that Ramaswamy’s performance in the first GOP presidential primary debate and previous interviews shows that he “is quick to disregard the truth when it’s politically expedient.”
Citing the 38-year-old’s quote from the debate, Rove said a particular low point was when Ramaswamy said he was “the only person on the stage who isn’t bought and paid for,” arguing he provided no proof to cement his claim.
“He didn’t care that his opponents have more than 123 years of public service among them, serving as vice president, governor, senator, representative, Drug Enforcement Agency administrator, undersecretary of homeland security, U.S. attorney, state legislator, county council member and combat veteran,” Rove wrote, adding that Ramaswamy has no public service record.
Rove, a former chief political strategist in the George W. Bush administration, also slammed the biotech entrepreneur for his comments that appeared to cast doubt about the origins of the 9/11 attacks in an interview with The Atlantic.
“Mr. Ramaswamy later claimed he was misquoted. That is a lie; his grotesque comments are on tape,” Rove said.
Rove in the op-ed wrote that Ramaswamy is “a performance artist who says outrageous things, smears his opponents and appeals to the dark parts of the American psyche,” citing examples of the Republican contender’s comments on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and his unverified comments on the Federal Reserve in separate interviews.
“There’s already a GOP candidate who does all those things, and worse. Republicans deserve a choice, not an echo,” he said.
This is not the first time Rove has criticized the conservative entrepreneur. He previously slammed him for his “over-the-top” and “robotic” performance at the first Republican debate.
In a comment to The Hill, Ramaswamy responded to the Rove op-ed and said, “Sorry Karl Rove, I’m still not going to invade Iraq again.”
A new Morning Consult poll released Tuesday shows that before the debate, Ramaswamy’s unfavorability was at 12 percent, but the post-debate survey showed it spiking to 19 percent, a notable increase outside the 4 percentage-point margin of error.