Republican businessman and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is once again facing criticism and mockery for remarks that cast doubt on his authenticity.
Ramaswamy, an ally of Trump who ran for president alongside him in 2024 and helped him craft the Department of Government Efficiency project, was born in Cincinnati — but had constantly faced accusations he doesn't have a solid connection to the state, buttressed by his recently resurfaced comments in 2023 that Ohio is "a good state" but "I can't say it's the best state."
His latest remarks, captured and posted to X by the youth supporter account for his Democratic opponent Amy Acton, stem from an interview he was giving while visiting the Mahoning Valley, in the northeast corner of the state along the Pennsylvania border, where he was asked about his favorite part of the area, and listed a national park an hour's drive outside of it.
"I just want to know what your favorite place around this area is to come by to stop here?" said the interviewer in the clip.
"You know, look, I love long drives, right?" said Ramaswamy. "You think about the time we spent in Trumbull County, you think about the time we even spend just going for a nice jog. You think about Cuyahoga National Park, not far from where we are. I'm a nature guy."
A number of commenters reacted with derision, with some pointing out that he goes most places in a private jet, not "long drives," and others noting that the self-proclaimed "nature guy" completely missed Mill Creek Park and Mosquito Lake State Park, both of which are actually in the Mahoning Valley.
"Vivek Ramaswamy is asked what his favorite place in the Mahoning Valley is, clearly has no answer and word-salad’s his way into saying Cuyahoga National Park is his favorite place in Youngstown lol," said the Students for Amy Acton account.
"OK for real tho has anyone ever seen him out and about in Ohio. Just out shopping or whatever," wrote Rachel Coyle, co-founder of the civic group How Things Work Ohio.