Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential nomination, used his opening remarks at Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate to launch a scathing attack against the Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Ramaswamy, like the other candidates on the stage, was asked to make his case for why he should be selected as the GOP nominee in 2024. However, he used the opportunity to instead lash out at the debate’s moderators and McDaniel.
“I think there’s something deeper going on in the Republican Party here, and I am upset about what happened last night,” Ramaswamy said, referring to the midterm elections held the day before. “We’ve become a party of losers at the end of the day. Is it cancer in the Republican establishment?”
He specifically targeted McDaniel, who has been the chairwoman of the RNC since 2017. Ramaswamy accused her of being responsible for the Republican Party’s losses in the past four years.
“Since Ronna McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost 2018, 2020, 2022 — no red wave, that never came. We got trounced last night in 2023,” he stated. “I think that we have to have accountability in our party. For that matter, Ronna, if you want to come onstage tonight, you want to look the GOP voters in the eye and tell them you resign, I will turn over my time to you.”
Exactly right.
Our problem as republicans isn’t that we’re too strong and we need to compromise more in order to “win the middle”. It’s that that we’re far too weak.
The other side doesn’t dare to compromise. It’s their way or the highway and we roll over with complacency. https://t.co/motg9lNew2
— Michael Seifert (@realmichaelseif) November 9, 2023
Ramaswamy also criticized the moderators of the debate, NBC journalists Lester Holt, Kristen Welker, and Hugh Hewitt. He argued that a debate moderated by conservative personalities such as Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk would attract a larger audience and bring in more independent voters to the party.
He called out Welker in particular for her past support of the now-debunked “Trump-Russia collusion hoax,” and accused her of pushing “Hillary Clinton made-up disinformation” during her time at the network.
Ramaswamy’s remarks drew mixed reactions from the other candidates on the stage. Some agreed with his sentiments and called for accountability within the Republican Party, while others expressed support for McDaniel and the work she has done for the party.
The debate continued with questions on various issues, including the economy, national security, and immigration.
WATCH: Vivek appears to have a heated exchange with RNC chair Ronna McDaniel post-debate after calling for her resignation at start of debate
— Danny De Urbina (@dannydeurbina) November 9, 2023
This is not the first time Ramaswamy has spoken out against his own party. In a recent interview, he criticized the Republican Party for not doing enough to appeal to the younger generation and called for more diversity within the party’s leadership.
The GOP presidential debate is a crucial event for potential candidates to showcase their ideas and gain support from party members. With his bold remarks, Ramaswamy has certainly made a statement and sparked discussions within the Republican Party. It remains to be seen how this will impact his campaign moving forward.
