Vivek Ramaswamy claimed he first voted in 2020 — now he admits that was wrong
by Gabe Kaminsky, Investigative Reporter |
July 26, 2023 07:00 AM
EXCLUSIVE — Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy admitted he made false claims about his voting history after the Washington Examiner confronted the 2024 Republican contender with state election records.
Ramaswamy notably asserted in two interviews released on June 30 and July 12 that he did not vote until 2020, when he backed former President Donald Trump over now-President Joe Biden. However, the wealthy entrepreneur actually first voted in the 2004 presidential election for the late Libertarian nominee Michael Badnarik, according to Ramaswamy as well as Ohio database records in Butler and Franklin counties.
"It was a throwaway vote," Ramaswamy said in an interview with the Washington Examiner, emphasizing he purportedly forgot about heading to the polls in 2004, when he was 19, and "was disgusted" at the time with both Republican George W. Bush and Democrat John Kerry, the other nominees. "A throwaway vote in that I knew it was a candidate who was not going to win."
The White House hopeful's campaign had initially said Ramaswamy didn't remember who he voted for after this reporter contacted it with the state records, which list his political participation but not specific candidates. His campaign previously claimed Ramaswamy thought he "must have voted Republican" in 2004 but then said he voted for Badnarik.
"I was very cynical and jaded," the 2024 candidate said, later adding that he didn't remember the 2004 vote because "it wasn't meaningful to me" since Ramaswamy had just graduated High school. "I remember being, as I was, very disaffected. John Kerry versus George Bush left me deeply uninspired. And, you know, I didn't think my vote was going to make a difference."
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/vivek-ramaswamy-2020-election-voting-records-republican-presidential