Knives are out”: Ramaswamy hits out at critics, “debunks myths”

WASHINGTON: Indian-American entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy hit out at his critics and said that the “knives are out” against him pertaining to him surging in the race. Ramaswamy gave clarification over two of the speculations regarding him; that he made money from an Alzheimer’s drug and that he is ‘anti-Israel’.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Ramaswamy wrote, “We’re surging. The knives are out. “Alzheimer’s Drug.” “Israel.” “Iran.” Here’s the TRUTH. Stay skeptical. Keep the questions coming & I’ll keep answering”.

We’re surging. The knives are out. “Alzheimer’s Drug.” “Israel.” “Iran.” Here’s the TRUTH. Stay skeptical. Keep the questions coming & I’ll keep answering. pic.twitter.com/FxXmUnwgRK

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 31, 2023

The GOP candidate said that he would address each of the criticisms and “debunk the myths” because he is running for the US President “We are continuing to surge, and that means the knives are continuing to come out. So, we’re gonna keep debunking the myths as they come up because I think it is important to be transparent and address criticism. As part of what it means is that if you can’t handle the heat, you stay out of the kitchen. And I am running for the President of the United States. So, we are going to address each of these criticisms as they come out,” he said. Refuting the allegations that he made a lot of money from a failed Alzheimer’s drug, Ramaswamy said that the drug failing was “extremely painful” for him.

What is true is that I do develop drugs for Alzheimer's disease, and like 99.7 per cent of drugs that have ever been tested for Alzheimer’s, mine was one of the many that also didn’t work…Roivant (Ramaswamy’s company) could have sold shares in before the failure. We didn’t…that was extremely painful to me,” he further said.

The Republican leader also rebutted the claims floating that he is “anti-Israel” and said that he will look forward to bringing Abraham Accords 2.0 and also making sure that Iran never becomes nuclear-armed. “The fact is our relationship with Israel will be stronger by the end of my first term, than it ever has been…one of the founding investors in my company was an Israeli firm. I have been to Israel many times, I have deep respect for Israel,” he said.

Ramaswamy added, “I’ll treat it as a friendship not as a transactional relationship. I am gonna lead Israel diplomatically into Abraham Accords 2.0. In my capacity as the US President, that would be a great diplomatic accomplishment. Get Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Indonesia into that pact, further make partners with Israel and make sure that Iran never ever becomes a nuclear powerhouse, nuclear-armed”. The Ohio-based entrepreneur added that he doesn’t talk in the way that a “standard GOP politician”, adding that he speaks ‘authentically’ which will make for stronger friendships with the US allies.

Notably, several of Ramaswamy’s rivals like former Vice President Mike Pence, Chris Christie and Nikki Haley have been attacking the Indian-American candidate and his policies ever since his impressive show at the GOP debate last week. Former President Donald Trump, on the other hand has heaped praise on the 38-year-old leader and even signalled that would be open to having him as his running mate, stating that "He would be very good…”. Meanwhile, Ramaswamy had shot up sharply in GOP primary polls, standing tied with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at the second position. However, both candidates lag hugely behind former President Donald Trump who leads with 56 per cent, as per The Hill.

In another poll by RealClearPolitics, Trump is far out in front of the 2024 GOP race with 53.6 per cent support, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 13.5 per cent, and Ramaswamy at 7.3 per cent, New York Post reported. The next US presidential election is scheduled to be held on November 5, 2024.