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Vivek Ramaswamy Responds To Voter Asking Question He Admits Makes Him 'A Little Uncomfortable'
Forbes Breaking News
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5 months ago
At his town hall event in Cincinnati, Ohio, following the viral downtown brawl, Vivek Ramaswamy took a question from a voter who discussed the history of anti-Black racism in U.S. history.
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00:01
Sir, I can actually get to him easier than me.
00:07
I give glory to the Most High God,
00:10
who made the heavens and the earth,
00:16
that his chosen people,
00:18
from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I speak.
00:23
Now, you guys, I like,
00:26
this is a new thing.
00:30
This thing is not new, what you saw.
00:32
I'm not on either side.
00:35
I'm on the Most High side.
00:37
But you have to understand
00:39
how our people feel.
00:44
Because we were brought here in slave ships
00:47
over 400 years ago.
00:52
And we were treated like animals, like cattle,
00:57
hung on trees,
01:02
family separated,
01:05
our heritage taken from us,
01:08
that we didn't know who we were as a people.
01:11
Now, I say, you act like this is a new thing.
01:17
This violence that you see out here.
01:20
Well, look over the 400 years
01:23
of all the violence that was perpetrated on our people.
01:27
Over the 400 years,
01:33
look what you did to our people.
01:37
But yet,
01:39
you know, it's not over with.
01:41
No, it's not over with.
01:42
That's the thing.
01:43
You want to sweep our history
01:46
under the table.
01:49
But you don't sweep
01:51
the Osmalti Jews
01:53
with the history of fame under the table.
01:56
All the things that you did
01:58
to the other races of people,
02:01
you don't sweep that under the table.
02:03
But when it comes down to
02:05
the black Negroes,
02:08
we can always sweep
02:10
what happened to us
02:12
under the table.
02:15
So, I'm telling you right now,
02:19
the most high
02:19
is looking at all of this.
02:22
That's why, according to
02:24
Deuteronomy 28,
02:27
chapter 28,
02:28
chapter 29,
02:30
and chapter 30,
02:31
for all you ministers,
02:33
you need to read it.
02:34
Because we're living
02:36
in revelations times.
02:38
And it tells you,
02:39
what was done to my people
02:41
are going to happen to you.
02:46
Robert, I,
02:47
look,
02:48
I want to thank you
02:49
for one thing out the gate
02:50
is that I said this at the start.
02:53
I don't think anybody
02:54
think I planted Robert's question.
02:56
We didn't plant the questions tonight.
02:58
We are promised
02:59
an open and candid conversation.
03:02
Sometimes that makes us
03:02
uncomfortable.
03:04
I felt a little uncomfortable
03:05
as you asked that question.
03:06
But that's what you should expect
03:08
of your leaders
03:08
to be able to engage with you.
03:10
So, let me say a couple words.
03:12
First of all,
03:13
the pride of this city.
03:14
Christopher,
03:14
you mentioned it
03:15
at the outset.
03:17
Cincinnati was the end
03:18
of the Underground Railroad.
03:20
Have we been perfect
03:21
for all of our national history?
03:22
Of course we're not perfect.
03:23
In fact,
03:25
we're destined
03:27
to never be perfect
03:28
because we're not a nation
03:29
comprised of gods.
03:30
We're a nation comprised
03:31
of human beings.
03:32
And we're a nation founded
03:33
on a set of ideals.
03:35
So that means
03:35
you will always be imperfect
03:37
because nobody ever
03:39
criticizes China
03:40
or Iran
03:41
or whatever
03:42
for hypocrisy
03:43
because to be
03:45
a hypocritical nation,
03:47
you had to have
03:47
ideals in the first place.
03:49
So here's what I'll tell you,
03:50
Robert.
03:50
Am I going to say
03:51
America was perfect
03:52
for every chapter
03:52
of our national history?
03:53
Of course not.
03:54
We're a nation founded
03:55
on ideals.
03:56
We're a nation founded
03:56
on human beings
03:57
who will always fall
03:58
short of those ideals.
03:59
But I would rather
03:59
live in a country
04:00
that has ideals
04:01
and falls short of them
04:03
than to live in a country
04:04
with no ideals at all.
04:06
And this is,
04:07
and I'll give you a chance
04:08
to respond in a moment.
04:11
Do I think we should sweep
04:12
the parts of our history
04:13
that make us uncomfortable
04:14
under the rug?
04:15
No.
04:16
Just as I don't think
04:16
we should sweep
04:17
last week's history
04:18
under the rug.
04:19
No.
04:20
We have to confront
04:21
what is true,
04:22
not just when it makes us
04:24
uncomfortable,
04:25
but precisely when it does not.
04:27
But the question is
04:27
how we move forward.
04:29
Because the only,
04:30
the only part that
04:31
lands with me
04:33
a little bit differently
04:34
is when you say
04:35
our people,
04:36
when I hear that,
04:38
I'm thinking about
04:39
our people as
04:40
everybody in this room.
04:43
I see black,
04:44
white,
04:45
brown,
04:45
man,
04:46
woman.
04:47
Who's all our people?
04:50
America is our people.
04:52
Ohio is our people.
04:54
Cincinnati is our people.
04:56
And I believe it is
04:57
the God-given right
04:58
of every person
04:58
to be able to live
04:59
a life free of violence,
05:00
to be able to speak
05:01
their mind in the open
05:03
without fear of retaliation.
05:05
And may I even say
05:06
if you're a hard-working
05:06
American to go into
05:07
your city,
05:08
whether you're black or white,
05:09
without fear of actually
05:10
being assaulted
05:11
or battered,
05:12
that ought to be
05:13
the birthright
05:14
of every American.
05:15
That's what I want
05:16
for our people.
05:17
Robert,
05:18
and I appreciate you
05:19
asking that question.
05:21
Let me just give
05:22
a few other people
05:23
a chance
05:23
we'll come back to
05:24
if we...
05:24
Why don't you give me...
05:25
We'll be very brief
05:26
and then I want to give
05:27
some other people
05:28
a chance.
05:28
Let me say this.
05:30
It tells you
05:31
in the scriptures
05:32
that the people
05:33
who put us
05:34
in captivity
05:35
was going to have
05:36
a perpetual
05:37
hatred against us.
05:40
It says
05:41
in the scriptures
05:42
that they would not
05:43
pity the young
05:45
or the old.
05:47
Who do I listen to?
05:48
I listen to the most high.
05:49
I don't listen to man
05:51
because man
05:52
is not who
05:53
saves me.
05:55
So,
05:56
it tells you
05:57
in the scriptures
05:57
of perpetual hatred
05:59
and that's what
06:00
I see every day.
06:01
You can go on YouTube
06:02
all around the nation
06:04
and what do you see?
06:06
Our people
06:07
getting crucified.
06:08
But nobody
06:09
steps up
06:09
and say anything
06:10
about it.
06:11
But when something
06:12
happens like this,
06:14
it's a big uproar.
06:15
Well, to my understanding,
06:16
the gentleman
06:18
was the one
06:19
who cast
06:20
the first stone.
06:21
And I think
06:22
you have
06:23
a stand your ground
06:24
law here
06:25
in Ohio
06:27
saying that
06:28
you can defend
06:30
yourself
06:30
even
06:31
with a weapon.
06:33
And anybody
06:34
with you,
06:35
anybody
06:36
with you
06:37
can
06:38
defend
06:39
also.
06:40
I'm done.
06:41
Thank you, Robert.
06:43
I appreciate it.
06:44
All I will say is
06:45
on the matter
06:46
of history,
06:46
right?
06:47
We're leaving
06:48
the facts
06:49
of last week.
06:49
I kept a promise
06:51
I'm going to make it.
06:51
We're going to
06:52
leave that to the
06:53
court system
06:53
to adjudicate.
06:54
We all saw
06:55
what we saw
06:55
on the internet.
06:56
But what I will
06:57
say to you is
06:58
we had a first
06:59
question about
07:00
the Christian
07:02
backdrop of support.
07:03
The next question
07:04
of quoting scripture.
07:05
I will say that
07:05
the ultimate grace
07:07
over a long
07:08
period of time
07:09
lies in our
07:10
ability to forgive
07:11
and to move on
07:12
as well.
07:13
Firmly.
07:14
And I think
07:15
that's where
07:15
it's going to take
07:16
to bring our
07:16
country and
07:17
our people
07:18
together.
07:19
Christopher,
07:19
you want to
07:19
say a word
07:20
as we get
07:21
over here
07:21
to the next
07:22
question?
07:22
We'll come to
07:22
you, sir,
07:23
right after
07:23
Christopher.
07:23
I just want
07:24
to respond
07:25
to Robert,
07:26
who's a
07:27
friend,
07:28
to share
07:30
with you
07:31
that African
07:33
Americans
07:33
have always
07:34
had a very
07:36
high standard.
07:39
African
07:40
Americans in
07:41
our country
07:41
have always
07:43
had a very
07:45
high standard.
07:47
Our people,
07:49
even in
07:49
poverty,
07:51
operated at
07:52
the highest
07:53
level of
07:54
dignity.
07:54
An example
07:55
would be the
07:55
Tuskegee Airmen.
07:58
And so what I
07:59
want to share
08:00
with all of
08:01
you is what
08:03
happened 10 or
08:04
12 days ago
08:05
was not our
08:06
best moment.
08:08
It was not.
08:11
We cannot
08:12
operate eye
08:13
for an eye
08:14
and tooth
08:15
for a tooth.
08:16
It is not
08:17
how we operate.
08:20
Punching people
08:21
in the face
08:22
and knocking
08:23
Holly out,
08:24
Holly did not
08:26
deserve what
08:27
happened to her.
08:30
Those men
08:31
operating
08:34
with a
08:35
WWE
08:35
knees
08:36
and jumping
08:37
off on
08:38
them
08:38
and slamming
08:39
their bodies
08:40
into them
08:41
was not
08:42
our best
08:42
moment.
08:43
It wasn't
08:44
our best
08:45
moment as
08:46
Americans.
08:47
It wasn't
08:47
our best
08:48
moment as
08:49
a people.
08:50
We must
08:51
own that.
08:53
And so I
08:53
just want to
08:54
say to my
08:55
friend Robert
08:55
that this
08:58
country has
08:59
never been
08:59
perfect for
09:00
our people.
09:01
I acknowledge
09:02
the pain.
09:04
This is why
09:04
we chose
09:05
this location
09:06
here by the
09:08
Ohio River
09:09
where our
09:10
people came
09:11
over that
09:12
river for
09:13
freedom.
09:14
And let me
09:15
share with you
09:16
brother,
09:17
white abolitionists
09:18
all up and down
09:19
50 took care
09:21
of us and
09:23
made sure
09:24
that we had
09:25
freedom with
09:27
great sacrifice.
09:28
white, my
09:28
point to you
09:29
is this, in
09:30
this moment, in
09:31
this moment, I
09:33
want to give a
09:33
voice, paying it
09:35
forward for
09:36
those white
09:37
abolitionists who
09:38
took care of
09:39
us.
09:40
It's now for
09:41
us in this
09:41
moment to be
09:42
able to look at
09:43
humanity and
09:44
say what
09:45
happened in
09:46
downtown
09:47
Cincinnati was
09:48
wrong.
09:49
And we don't
09:50
want to accept
09:50
it.
09:51
We don't want to
09:52
make an excuse
09:52
for it.
09:53
We don't want
09:53
to find a way
09:54
to say somebody
09:56
did something to
09:57
me that caused
09:58
me to hurt
09:59
people the way
09:59
they did.
10:00
There's violence
10:01
is never the
10:02
answer.
10:09
We love you.
10:14
We love you.
10:15
That's it.
10:16
The most high
10:17
My name is Guy
10:18
Harper and I do
10:20
not agree with
10:20
this man's
10:21
sentiment.
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