If the useless Dana Bash of CNN calls you out on your bullshit, you know it has to be extremely bad, especially if you are a Republican. Bash goes out of her way to let Republicans vomit forth their talking points with nary a tough question. But Vivek Ramaswamy — being the obnoxious shit that he is — stated that Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley was a racist and grand wizard of the modern KKK. Pressley’s crime? Presley wants more black Democrats in congress who will be the voice of black Americans. Surprisingly, Bash pointed out that Pressley hasn’t been involved with 100 years of violence against black Americans like the actual Klan has.
How the hell did any of this shit come up in the first place you might wonder?
Seems Vivek was responding to a question from an Iowa voter:
PELLA, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Friday called Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley and author Ibram Kendi "modern grand wizards of the modern KKK" at a campaign appearance in Iowa.
It came in response to a voter question asking Ramaswamy, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from India, if critics would blame him for white supremacy or call him part of white supremacy.
Ramaswamy responded by saying, "Ayanna Pressley, she's in the Congress today. She's a member of 'the squad.' Her words, not mine: 'We don't want any more black faces that don't want to be a black voice. We don't want any more brown faces that don't want to be a brown voice.'"
And no, Vivek didn’t misspeak either.
Talking to reporters after the town hall, Ramaswamy doubled down on his comments.
"The fact that we're taught to see each other on the basis of our genetic attributes is something that would make the old wizards of the KKK proud," said Ramaswamy.
When pressed by NBC News on whether he was calling Pressley and Kendi "grand wizards of the KKK," Ramaswamy said what "the whole movement represented" is what would make "the grand wizards of the KKK proud."
This shit is really pretty old. For a guy with “new ideas,” Vivek is using an oldie but a goodie. “Democrats are the real racist!” is the rallying cry of Republicans and white supremacists. I’m reasonably sure this came out of the Civil Right Era. Racist Repubicans knew they couldn’t get caught on tape saying the N-word, but they could hurl the charge that blacks and Democrats were racist against white people. This is while Republicans were passing laws to block anti-discrimnation efforts, or while Republicans were surpressing the votes of POC.
And Vivek also said this:
Ramaswamy originally made the remarks during a campaign event in Iowa this Friday, where he first tried to downplay white supremacy when he responded to a question about whether he'd ever experienced racism by saying that he was "sure that boogeyman white supremacist exists somewhere in America, I've just never met him," before proceeding to accuse liberals of some "sort of new Neo racism."
“sure that boogeyman white supremacist exits somewhere in America, I’ve just never met him.”
I’ve met a few, and I’m white. I don’t know about you all, but I think Ramaswamy is lying. I base part of that allegation on the fact that Ramaswamy is a hustler. Vivek got investors to put money is a biotech company with a so called promising new drug, and he cashed out before everyone figured out that the drug didn’t pan out.
Anyway, here is more of his racist screed:
“The greatest racism I’ve experienced ― and I have experienced racism ― comes from the modern left at a scale unimaginable,” said the GOP candidate, who is the son of Indian immigrants. “Because I think they feel a sense of betrayal, saying that, ‘You’re not speaking in the tone that you’re supposed to.’”
“So the other side will gaslight you when you’re saying this stuff, ‘Oh, you’re just making that stuff up,’” added Ramaswamy, emphasizing that he was citing specific quotations. “These are the words of the modern Grand Wizards of the modern KKK.”
Usually in the past, Republicans accused Democrats of muzzling black leaders an politicians. Democrats had blacks living on a “plantation” and could only say what white Democrats told them to. If I recall correctly, Republicans loved having black conservatives throw out those insults.
So here is Dana Bash of CNN asking Vivek the same question several times:
After Bash pointed out that it's one thing to accuse her of using divisive rhetoric, and another entirely to accuse Pressley of being the "modern version of a KKK, which as you know, was dedicated to the subjugation and violence against Black people," she asked Ramaswamy about his ridiculous remarks. "How on earth is she a modern grand wizard of that kind of an organization?"
Ramaswamy tried to dance around the question while telling Bash he wanted to have an "intellectually honest" debate, while again accusing progressives of being the ones discriminating against others, and Bash responded by again trying to pin him down on his comments.
"But regardless when you accuse her of being a grand wizard of KKK? Can you have that intellectually honest discussion with that kind of rhetoric?"…
After Bash pointed out that "the whole thing about the KKK, it wasn't just about rhetoric. They lynched people, they raped people, they murdered people, they burned their homes" and that if Ramaswamy wanted to have an "intellectual discussion" about racism, maybe he shouldn't literally call someone a "modern leader of the KKK," she asked him whether that was "maybe a step too far" and whether he stood by what he said.
You damn right Vivek stood by his remarks. He’s a Republican, and Republicans never apologize or admit to mistakes. Besides Dana, since when do Republicans have “intellectually honest” debates?
I expect to hear more of this shit come of out Ramaswamy’s mouth like a fire hose. It gets him attention while signalling to the racist Republican base that he is “telling it like it is.” He makes white racists feel good about their hate.
Ramaswamy doesn’t need to find a gig, but I suspect he wants to be on Fox and gain Tucker Carlson’s followers. Ramaswamy has money, so now he wants power. Therefore, when he loses in the Republican primaries, this will not be the last we see of Vivek. He’ll be making his contribution to white supremacy for years to come.
NOTE: I have come to a realization when it comes to my thinking on race. I am an old white guy, and I’m sure I have picked up many biases. My Dad and his relatives were racist. And while I thought I might not be a racist, I’ve stepped on a rake when it comes to this topic on Daily Kos. Therefore, I have never been comfortable discussing racism because I only have the view of an old white guy, and I do not have the experiences of others who have suffered from racism.
However, when I see such obvious racism being thrown around, I think I’m on safe territory to call it out. Besides, this is a bad faith argument by Ramaswamy, and bad faith arguments insult my intelligence and make me angry.