GOP Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy referred to Ukraine’s Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a “comedian in cargo pants” and a “Nazi.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government have claimed Ukraine’s government is filled with “Nazis” in order justify the invasion as well as weaponize the country’s lingering patriotism regarding World War Two, as The New York Times and other outlets have explained.
During the NBC News Republican debate, Ramaswamy was asked whether he supported continued aide and funding towards Ukraine. The GOP outsider used his time on the stage to launch personal attacks at Zelenskyy and claim Ukraine is not a legitimate democracy.
“Ukraine is not a paragon of democracy. This is a country that has banned 11 opposition parties. It has consolidated all media into one state TV media arm. That’s not Democratic. It is threatening not to hold elections this year unless the U.S. forks over more money. That is not democratic,” Ramaswamy told the audience.
“It has celebrated a Nazi in its ranks. The comedian in cargo pants, a man called Zelenskyy, doing it in their own ranks. That is not democratic,” he added. “Those are the hard facts and sort of framed this as some kind of battle between good versus evil. Don’t buy it.”
Senior writer at National Review Noah Rothman called Ramaswamy’s rhetoric a “reprehensible smear of Ukraine’s Jewish president merely for the sin of defending his country against an unprovoked war of territorial conquest and subjugation. Morally depraved.”
That’s what I thought I heard. What a reprehensible smear of Ukraine’s Jewish president merely for the sin of defending his country against an unprovoked war of territorial conquest and subjugation. Morally depraved. https://t.co/FdzAe6SOPD
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) November 9, 2023
Ramaswamy’s campaign later claimed he was referencing Yaroslav Hunka, a former Ukrainian Nazi that Zelenskyy applauded in Canada back in September, according to Jewish Insider reporter Matthew Kassel.
Watch the full clip above via NBC News.
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