Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy delivered a powerful critique of mainstream media reporting, particularly concerning their coverage of several high-profile issues related to former President Donald Trump, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Hunter Biden.
His approach, marked by direct and challenging questions, left reporters in a state of stunned silence. Ramaswamy opened his line of questioning by confronting the media’s narrative on the Trump-Russia collusion story.
“Just by show of hands, who here is willing to admit that the Trump-Russia collusion hoax was indeed incorrectly reported by the mainstream media?” he asked.
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He then moved on to the Hunter Biden laptop story, a topic that has been a flashpoint for allegations of media bias. Ramaswamy asked the reporters, “Is Hunter Biden’s laptop Russian disinformation?” His question referenced the widespread media dismissal of the story during the 2020 presidential election, which was later given more credence.
“Does anyone here agree that the Hunter Biden laptop story as reported by the New York Post was indeed accurately reported and was not Russian disinformation, but was in fact a factually owned laptop of Hunter Biden?”
Ramaswamy didn’t stop there. He brought up the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing to the initial dismissal of the lab leak theory by many in the media, which has since become a subject of serious investigation.
“Does anybody believe the media’s reporting about the origin of COVID-19 ran flatly in face of the facts that you have a Wuhan Institute of Virology that was now the likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic?”
Throughout the press conference, he was pushing reporters to confront what he saw as their role in misleading the public on these key issues. “I actually think that the public was lied to long after the media systematically still understood that this was the product of the Steele dossier,” Ramaswamy continued.
He expressed his concern about the future implications of such reporting practices, calling for a need for media accountability: “Without acknowledging the mistakes of the past, I think we are destined for an even more dangerous future.”
The silence of the reporters was telling.
“I think that the systematic suppression of speech in this country, even about debating the lockdowns was a key part of what culminated in January 6th, 2021,” he explained. “And as somebody who’s looking to lead this country and hopefully dare I say reunite this country, I think it is critical, it is vital to the future of this country that we not repeat those same mistakes.”
“Yet that’s exactly what I’m seeing play out in slow motion, hiding in plain sight. And so it’s my concern for this country that leads me to run for US president. It’s my concern for this country that causes me to raise what aren’t some ancient issues to be swept under the rug. I think that history is relevant aren’t some ancient issues to be swept under the rug.”
“I think that history is relevant to what’s happening today,” he finished.