Vivek Ramaswamy, GOP presidential candidate, speaks at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina (Alex Hicks Jr. for REUTERS)
An encounter between Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and an unidentified man “quickly” went “off the rails,” according to the progressive media organization MeidasTouch, which shared a video of the incident.
Ramaswamy came under scrutiny this week after one of his campaign ads featured a video of the Republican candidate shaking hands with a male registered sex offender and complimenting his patriotic attire. According to The Bulwark, the ad featured Vernon Edwards, who pleaded guilty in 2006 to two counts of gross sexual imposition involving a girl under 13.
Ramaswamy’s campaign has since reworked the ad to remove Edwards and claimed to be unaware of Edwards’ criminal history.
Nevertheless, in a video shared by MeidasTouch on Saturday, an unidentified man approached Ramaswamy and asked about the ad.
“Mr. Ramaswamy, why did you have a pedophile in one of your ads?” the man could be heard saying.
Ramaswamy asked what he was “talking about,” to which the man repeated himself. Ramaswamy then aggressively told the man to leave as he stormed off.
“We went to a county fair where people walk around. Get out!” Ramaswamy said.
The unidentified man kept pressing Ramaswamy as he walked off but was ignored.
Ramaswamy has narrowly trailed his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, in recent polls in the race for Ohio governor. An Oct. 9 poll from Bowling Green State University and YouGov showed Acton leading Ramaswamy by 6 points.
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