(TotalConservative.com) – Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy received some pushback on Sunday from CNN host Dana Bash over a comment he made comparing the rhetoric of Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley to the KKK.
Ramaswamy appeared on “State of the Union” and was asked about a recent shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, that appears to have been racially motivated. Things took a turn when Bash asked Ramaswamy about a comment he made at a recent campaign event about Pressley.
In 2019, about herself and her political allies, Pressley said they “don’t want any more black faces that don’t want to be a black voice” or “any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice.” Ramaswamy said Pressley’s words were that “of the modern grand wizards of the modern KKK.”
Bash pushed back on these comments. She told Ramaswamy she’s “sure” the white nationalist group “was responsible for more than a century” of “horrific” crimes against black people. She then asked Ramaswamy how the views he was talking about (referring to leftwing identity politics) are “comparable to the views and atrocities” of the KKK.
Ramaswamy replied clarifying that he said the “grand wizards… would be proud” of her words “because there’s nothing more racist” than trying to predict the content of another’s viewpoints or ideas based on their skin color. Bash retorted that Ramaswamy “didn’t just say they would be proud,” but that Pressley’s words were those “of the modern grand wizards.”
In his response, Ramaswamy said Bash “was right about that” and that what Pressley said was “in the same spirit” as what the KKK said because it reduces him to his skin color. He said Pressley is telling him that he can’t express his more conservative views because of his skin color. Ramaswamy is of Indian descent and dark complexion.
The back and forth continued, with Bash challenging Ramaswamy, who admitted what the KKK did was wrong, to an “intellectual discussion” about how his comparison of Pressley may be “a step too far” and also wrong.
Such contention is something Ramaswamy will have to get used to as he rises in the polls as a prospective candidate for the GOP nomination in 2024.
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