SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly slammed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for suggesting US federal agents may have been on the planes involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old aspiring millennial candidate who is seeking high office in 2024, suddenly turned to the controversial conversation after speaking about the Jan. 6 uprising in an interview.
Kelly criticized Ramaswamy’s comments on Tuesday’s radio show, suggesting he was becoming conspiratorial.
“He has come to terms with the truthrism of 9/11 … and I have to say that is deeply offensive in many ways, not to mention disrespecting the families of the victims,” she said.
She also believed the comments were about someone positioning themselves as an outsider, turning into a typical politician.
SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly slammed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for suggesting US federal agents may have been on the planes involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks
Vivek Ramaswamy (pictured), the 38-year-old upstart Millennial Republican, suddenly turned to the controversial conversation after opening up about the Jan. 6 uprising
“Look, the whole thing is stuck in my stomach.” “I don’t like it when someone like Vivek comes in and morphs into a classic politician who just lies,” Kelly said.
Kelly said the entire controversy was “of his own making” and wanted him to be honest about what he was saying.
“It just belongs to the devil!” Sorry, forgive me. you screwed it up; It was a stupid statement. Stay true to your brand of “Truth” and own it,” she added.
She admitted the upstart was “doing just fine” and called the problem “completely unnecessary”.
Kelly also defended CNN host Kaitlin Collins, who called Ramaswamy a “moody teenager” for challenging him in an interview.
“Her behavior wasn’t the issue here, it was her dishonesty,” Kelly said.
Ramaswamy said he has questioned the US government’s reporting of the number of federal agents involved in the attack, telling The Atlantic’s John Hendrickson: “I think it’s legitimate to say how many police officers, how many federal agents, there were were in the planes that hit.” the Twin Towers.
“Maybe the answer is zero.” From what I understand it’s probably zero, right? I have no reason to believe it was anything other than zero.
Ramaswamy said he doubts the US government’s reporting of the number of federal agents involved in the September 11 attack
“But if we do a comprehensive assessment of what happened on 9/11, then we have a 9/11 Commission. That should definitely be an answer that the public knows the answer to.”
He seemed to imply that the US government was not entirely truthful about the events surrounding the terrorist attack.
“I mean, I would embrace the truth about 9/11.” I don’t question what we’re doing—it’s not something I’m committed to. But I want the truth about 9/11.’
He said in the interview that he raised the attacks “only because they were used as a basis for the January 6 commission.”
“Well, if we do an assignment on January 6th, those should definitely be questions we should investigate.”
Transcript of Ramaswamy’s conversation with John Hendrickson of the Atlantic
Hendrickson: I find it interesting to compare and contrast 9/11 and 6/1.
Ramaswamy: Oh yes. I don’t think they belong in the same conversation. I’m only mentioning it because it’s… I’m not making a comparison. I think it’s a ridiculous comparison –
Hendrickson: I’m not comparing –
Ramaswamy: But I say that I only raised it because it was used as a basis for the January 6 commission.
Hendrickson: Of course. What I do want to say, though, is that I think Democrats and Republicans would agree that 9/11 is a Pearl Harbor-like day, where there are good guys and bad guys, and America was under attack. I mean, I think that’s pretty clear –
Ramaswamy: I mean, I would accept the truth about 9/11. I mean, I don’t question what we do – it’s not something I commit to. But I want the truth about 9/11.
“What percentage of the gunmen were federal law enforcement officers? “I think it was probably actually high,” Ramaswamy said.
In 2021, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried unsuccessfully to set up a “9/11-style commission” to investigate how and why the January 6 riot took place at the Capitol in Washington DC.
Shortly after the interview was published, he attempted to retract his comments.
He told CNN that he was misquoted by Atlantic but apparently exacerbated the conspiracy speech: “The truth is that the government told lies about 9/11, but it’s not the lies that someone told me put in his mouth.”
“It’s what I expressed, which is that Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency was absolutely implicated in 9/11.”
Shortly after the interview, Ramaswamy was condemned by allies and enemies alike.
The Republicans Against Trump group said, “What does it say about the Republican Party today that this 9/11 truth and pro-Putin candidate is the party’s young rising star?”
Meanwhile, Scott English, a former Republican adviser, said: “I understand that Ramaswamy was 16 when 9/11 happened, but the Saudi involvement was quite well known when we passed the Homeland Security Act when he was 17.” was.”
This isn’t the first time Ramaswamy has taken questionable views on the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.
In a lengthy tweet on Aug. 9, he said, “I don’t believe everything the government has told us about that day.”
“There is no credible evidence that 9/11 was an inside job, but ironically, when the government systematically lies about Saudi Arabia’s involvement and the media interferes, it lends plausibility to an otherwise nonsensical claim.”
The comments in the Atlantic come as eight candidates, including Ramaswamy, will face off tonight in the first Republican primary debate of the 2024 presidential campaign.
The debate, which Fox will host on multiple of its platforms, will take place at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin looks set to be an embattled state and will also host the Republican National Convention next year.
Notably, Donald Trump will not appear, citing his lead in the polls over his rivals, although he will air a taped interview with Tucker Carlson at the same time as the debate.
Aggregated polling data from FiveThirtyEight shows that Donald Trump has consistently been miles ahead of his fellow candidates.
The former president currently has 52.5 percent of Republican voters in his camp, while his closest rival Ron DeSantis has just 14.5 percent of the Republican vote.
No other Republican candidate currently crosses the 10 percent mark.
Over in the Democratic camp, Joe Biden has a huge lead over his only other rival, Robert F. Kennedy.
As of Tuesday, Biden commands 65.1% of the Democratic vote compared to Kennedy’s 12.9%.