By Last December, following the fourth Republican debate earlier this week, Van Jones remarked that some of Vivek Ramaswamy’s statements left him shaken. He delivered a scathing critique of Ramaswamy, suggesting that the presidential candidate was both a liar and a demagogue.
During a panel discussion on CNN, Jones denounced Ramaswamy’s embrace of the so-called “Great Replacement Theory” and warned, “That guy is dangerous. That’s dangerous.”
“And the smug, condescending way that he just spews this poison out, is very, very dangerous. Because he won’t stop Trump, but he’s going to outlive Trump by about 50 years,” he said.
“You’re watching the rise of an American demagogue that is a very, very despicable person. And I literally, I was— I was shaking listening to him talk because a lot of people don’t know. That is one step away from Nazi propaganda coming out of his mouth.”
“That leads to violence. That puts at risk Jewish people. That puts at risk people of color. It is wrong,” Jones said, according to The Hill.
At the Democratic Convention, Ramaswamy finally got a chance to confront Jones to his face.
The Washington Examiner writes that on Thursday, in Chicago, Ramaswamy and Jones wound up face to face in a hallway as cameras surrounded them, capturing the viral moment.
“We got death threats after the thing you said,” Ramaswamy told Jones as he began to walk away.
Ramaswamy caught up with Jones a second time and continued, “For the first time in the campaign, we get a death threat of a man who wants to show up in New Hampshire. Thankfully, the police intervened. The next day, back to back, my wife’s scared enough. The next day, we wake up. It’s 3 a.m. We get a call from him — he’s my security guard — saying, ‘Thank God you picked up because we just got a call that someone showed up at your house and has four dead bodies.’”
Ramaswamy said he would not attribute that situation to what Jones had said on CNN but that his words hurt his family. The roughly 2 1/2-minute conversation ended with Ramaswamy offering to “turn the page and have a chapter to demonstrate what actual good discourse looks like in this country,” stressing it didn’t have to be anything that happened on the network.
“Amazing,” Jones replied as he attempted to end the conversation. Ramaswamy said he hoped the two could “build a friendship” before they parted ways.
The confrontation was caught on video and posted to social media.
Just now: Vivek Ramaswamy confronts Van Jones at the DNC for the ‘demagogue’ comment which led to death threats
Watch👀@VivekGRamaswamy | @VanJones68
(YT: @bennyjohnson) pic.twitter.com/rdM3SkDw3T— Chris Carapezza (@Chris_Carapezza) August 23, 2024
Ramaswamy has claimed that he has spoken to former President Trump about a “substantial role” in his possible administration if he regains the White House in 2024.
“And President Trump and I have had great conversations about doing something substantial, not small, but maybe a couple roles that could be really big roles in the Cabinet of the new administration,” he continued.
The young, conservative firebrand has also been floated as a possible nominee for governor of Ohio, and he said that he could be considered as a replacement for J.D. Vance if he becomes the next vice president.
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