Vivek Ramaswamy defends new endorser: 'racist' Steve King

Vivek Ramaswamy defended former U.S. Rep. Steve King from accusations of racism Wednesday after the Iowa Republican endorsed the Ohio entrepreneur’s presidential campaign.

King, who previously represented Iowa’s 4th Congressional District in Washington, D.C., announced his endorsement of Ramaswamy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night. In a video shared to the social media platform X, King said he supports Ramaswamy because he will defend Americans’ rights and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border “for real.”

“I’ve been looking for the strongest voice we have that will defend our constitution and restore the pillars of American exceptionalism,” he said in the video. “That’s Vivek Ramaswamy.”

Though King has long been an important Iowa Republican figure, his political tenure ended amid controversy for statements on topics like white nationalism and abortion in cases of rape and incest. In 2020, King lost the primary in Iowa’s 4th District, a longtime conservative stronghold, to now-U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra.

In an interview with the Iowa Capital Dispatch Wednesday, Ramaswamy said he was proud to receive King’s support and that news media have falsely portrayed him as racist. He said claims made in the New York Times about King were “false factual premises.”

“The mainstream media will tell you he’s a racist, I will tell you that I don’t think he is,” Ramaswamy said. “I would tell you that he’s not, that he’s a patriot who cares about this country, and who’s unafraid to speak the hard truth and share his true convictions. … He’s been very ahead of the curve many times, he was ahead of the curve on ‘build the wall’ … I think he’s ahead of the curve in endorsing me, and I think we’re hoping to prove him right at the Iowa caucus.

Ramaswamy also said King’s endorsement comes from their shared beliefs on issues like carbon capture pipelines. Ramaswamy has spent recent weeks on the Iowa campaign trail speaking against governments allowing the use of eminent domain for companies building carbon dioxide pipelines. The government can require private property owners to allow the use of their land for projects considered in the public interest.

The candidate spoke about carbon capture pipelines at Des Moines event Wednesday afternoon, criticizing federal subsidies for the project as well as the use of eminent domain. It was the first of multiple stops on the campaign trail in the final days leading up to the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15, 2024 — Ramaswamy was joined by his wife, Apoorva, and their two sons.

“You want to learn a cautionary tale of government picking favorites, they just lobby for these special crony subsidies that effectively create incentive for people to do things and they otherwise would not have done, that are actually harmful to people across this country,” he said. “Who’s paying the price? Farmers who have their land seized to say, ‘we’re going to build a pipeline across your backyard.'”

Ramaswamy has repeatedly ranked fourth in recent Iowa and national polls, behind former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump. Trump led the most recent Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll with 51%, while Ramaswamy was the first choice of 5% of likely GOP caucusgoers.

The Ohio Republican said he believed that many polls were “artificial,” saying that polls showing him ahead of Haley have been purposefully buried. He also said some polls are not accounting for his campaign’s plans to grow the electorate, bringing in new participants to the Iowa Republican caucuses.

“Honestly, much of our support is coming from non-traditional caucusgoers who are not polled. That’s the answer,” he said. “If anything, we’re going to deliver a major shock on Jan. 15.”

Though Ramaswamy regularly speaks in favor of Trump, he said he believes his campaign “goes further” than Trump by talking about issues like eminent domain, shutting down the Federal Bureau of Investigation and ending birthright citizenship. He also Trump could be prevented from becoming the GOP presidential nominee in 2024.

“I think first of all, the system’s making increasingly clear they’re not going to let him get anywhere near the finish line,” Ramaswamy said. “So we shouldn’t fall into that trap.”

Trump on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that disqualified him from appearing on the state’s primary ballot. Ramaswamy has pledged to withdraw himself from primary ballots in states that bar Trump, and repeated his call Wednesday for the other GOP presidential hopefuls to do the same.

Ramaswamy said his show of support for Trump staying on primary ballots is “just the right thing to do,” but called for supporters of Trump’s agenda to back his campaign, to ensure the movement lives beyond Trump.

“The people of this country, I hope will reward the person who’s doing the right thing, on principle,” Ramaswamy said. “And I think it’s a very messy process at the end in terms of then selecting who the nominee is. But then the delegates and everybody else will have to then make the choice who the people of this country demand.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.