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Washington: Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy took the stage for his \u201cYou\u2019ve Been Brainwashed Tour\u201d for Turning Point USA at Penn State\u2019s Spark building on Thursday, October 17. After calling off his presidential bid earlier this year, the Indian-origin American entrepreneur has taken charge as an advisor in conservative circles.<\/p>\n
Ramaswamy addressed hundreds in the crowd, opening up about his background, college experience, and eventual debut as a politician. The discussion led to a question-and-answer segment, as the Republican leader encouraged students to vote and stand up to censorship, as highlighted by Pennsylvania State University\u2019s digital campus newspaper, The Collegian.<\/p>\n
The Q&A session particularly saw a man stepping out to question the Republican politician\u2019s Hindu faith and how it fits into the US. The event attendee accused Ramaswamy of drawing comparisons between Hindu gods and Jesus Christ. He held him accountable for not publicly declaring his Hindu identity throughout the lecture until other men asked him about his faith. He also asserted that Ramaswamy\u2019s omission would have led the majority of people present in the room to think that he was talking about \u201cthe only true God, Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
He further pushed the American politician to clarify his religious stance and which God he was alluding to in his address, but he didn\u2019t do so without possibly offending the Republican leader in the room. Nevertheless, Ramaswamy kept his cool and offered the eventgoer the room to speak at length as he continued to batter him with accusations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a couple of observations that I want to make, and then I was wondering if you would respond to them,\u201d the person began. \u201cSo, the first one is that throughout the course of the lecture, you talked an awful lot about God and faith. And there were some men that came up here and they asked you about your Hindu religion. But my suspicion is if they didn\u2019t mention that, you would have omitted who that God was throughout the course of the entire lecture. And most of the people in this room here would leave thinking you were talking about the only true God, Jesus Christ,\u201d the student asked the Republican leader.<\/p>\n
He continued, \u201cGod has a name and Hinduism is a wicked, pagan religion, and it\u2019s completely incompatible with America. Everyone in this entire room is a Christian, they believe in Jesus Christ. You\u2019ve attempted to create this parallel however tenuously between Christian moral principles and these Hindu values. You look in sacred scripture and you see that all the gods of the Gentiles are devilous and there\u2019s only one name under heaven that can give you salvation.\u201d Midway through his message, some other people in the audience presumably reacted strongly to the student\u2019s claims. Ramaswamy merely put on a faint smile on his face and urged others not to interrupt him and \u201clet him speak.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the student concluded, \u201cSo, my big question is, and you\u2019ve talked about being forthright and transparent, my suspicion is that you would have omitted who that God was when you were speaking here tonight had you not explicitly been asked about Hinduism. So my challenge to you going forward would be to say who this God is?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramaswamy then picked up his mic again and began, \u201cIt\u2019s okay. I\u2019ve had a lot of harsh challenges than this one, so don\u2019t pat yourself on the back too hard there. Don\u2019t want you to sprain your back with that one.\u201d The audience quickly broke into applause. \u201cI don\u2019t want you to go with a back sprained,\u201d the former presidential candidate quipped.<\/p>\n
His actual answer started thereafter, as he dismissed the student\u2019s suspicion. \u201cYou run for US President at the age of 37. As somebody who\u2019s been in business, who\u2019s actually\u2026easiest thing to call myself, some Vic Ramsey and pretend to be a Christian, got other people on that debate stage last time who shortened their names and called themselves to be a Christian, too. I man up and tell you who I am, and believe me, your suspicion is off base. Listen to any number of the campaign speeches I gave over thousands of them over the course of the last year. So, we can take the disingenuous accusation off the table, but level with what I do think is an interesting coming,\u201d Ramaswamy said.<\/p>\n
As he went on, he referenced the third US President Thomas Jefferson, who \u201cwas considered a Deist, subscribing to the liberal religious strand of Deism that values reason over revelation and rejects traditional Christian doctrines, including the Virgin Birth, original sin and the resurrection of Jesus,\u201d according to PBS.org.<\/p>\n
The student interrupted Ramaswamy half-way, saying that he never \u201cvolunteered\u201d the information about his Hindu religion, rather it had to be \u201cpried out\u201d of him. The Republican politician declared that a \u201cfalse\u201d accusation. He continued, \u201cSo watch about the last presidential campaign of last year. And you apparently have had your head stuck in the sand where it need not belong. Now, what I think we need more of in our American politics is less of questioning the motivations of what somebody is and get to the content of where there\u2019s an actual difference of opinion. So the question of whether or not somebody of a non-Christian faith can embody and lead the United States of America at a meaningful level is an open question. Thomas Jefferson is on the other side of the question from you. Thomas Jefferson was not a traditional Christian. Do you know what the Jefferson Bible is?\u201d<\/p>\n
In his response, the student called Jefferson \u201can enemy of Christianity.\u201d Ramaswamy instantly butted in and replied, \u201cSo, this is where we disagree.\u201d The two butted for a while again, leading Ramaswamy to his next statement, \u201cIf you believe that Thomas Jefferson as a Deist would\u2019ve been unqualified to be US president, then I guess you and I see the future of the United States of America differently. It so happens that he was the person who signed this document called the Declaration of Independence, which is the greatest mission statement known to a country in the history of mankind, without which the United States of America would not exist. He was the third US president who signed the Lewis and Clark Expedition, without which we literally wouldn\u2019t have the United States of America, so if you view him as some kind of deviant who should\u2019ve never been in the US presidency that\u2019s a permissible point of view. It\u2019s just not one that I don\u2019t share. And my view is very similar to that of Thomas Jefferson is that it\u2019s the commitment to the constitution that matters whether or not you\u2019ll lead the country. The beauty of our nation is that we\u2019re able to have different points of view and earnestly engage in an open exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contrary to the student\u2019s claims at the Penn State event this week, Ramaswamy has actually been outspokenly proud about his Hindu faith. In September 2023, Ramaswamy was again confronted about his religion in New Hampshire, as reported by NBC News. His answer reiterated the significance of religious liberty in the US. \u201cI\u2019m Hindu, and I\u2019m proud of that. I stand for that without apology. I think I\u2019m going to be able to be more ardent as a defender of religious liberty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Later, during The Family Leader Forum event, the then-first-time candidate again said, \u201cMy faith is what gives me my freedom\u2026 my faith is what led me to this presidential campaign actually.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cI am a Hindu. I believe that God is true. God has sent us here for a purpose. It is our duty to realise the purpose of God. It is our moral duty. The core of our religion is that God resides in all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are God\u2019s instruments that work through us in different ways, but we are still equal because God resides in each of us. That\u2019s the core of my faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
In December 2023, Ramaswamy\u2019s faith was scrutinised again at the CNN Townhall. An audience member questioned him, \u201cWhat do you say to those who say to you that you cannot be our president because your religion is not what our founding fathers based our country on.\u201d<\/p>\n
At one point in his address, the then-presidential candidate noted, \u201cWould I be the best president to spread Christianity through this country, no I would not be the perfect choice for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, he highlighted, \u201cMy job will be to make faith, patriotism cool in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
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