Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told The Tennessee Star on Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris must apologize after she fanned the “flames of political violence” in her remarks, delivered earlier that day from the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., where she compared former President Donald Trump to genocidal dictator Adolf Hitler.
Ramaswamy described Harris’ speech as “insane” and “irresponsible” in a statement provided exclusively to The Star.
“Comparing Trump to ‘Hitler’ is not only insane, it’s irresponsible given the near-tragedies we’ve seen in recent months,” said Ramaswamy, alluding to the multiple confirmed attempts to assassinate Trump.
Trump’s ear was grazed by an assassin’s bullet in a storm of gunfire that killed Corey Comperatore on July 13, and weeks later he was rushed away from his Florida golf course after Ryan Routh was allegedly waiting to assassinate the former president when authorities say a Secret Service agent saw the would-be killer’s rifle and opened fire. A third assassination attempt was claimed by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in California, but the man named in the accusation and his surrogates have denied he sought to harm the former president.
The three attempts to assassinate the former president did not stop Harris from repeating claims advanced by former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who was fired by Trump and later made negative claims about the former president to multiple media outlets.
“He wants a military that is loyal to him. He wants a military who will be loyal to him personally, one that will obey his orders, even when he tells them to break the law or abandon their oath to the Constitution of the United States,” Harris claimed, citing Kelly’s recent interview with The New York Times.
Still citing claims made by Kelly, Harris later said, “Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man who is responsible for the death of 6 million Jews.”
Ramaswamy told The Star that Harris must apologize for the incendiary remarks.
“Our country is already skating on thin ice, we can’t afford to fan the flames of political violence just 13 days before an election,” said Ramaswamy.
He told The Star, “This is un-American and I’m calling on Kamala Harris to correct her mistake by apologizing immediately.”
Ramaswamy is not the only Republican to raise concerns about Harris’ rhetoric sparking more violence directed at the former president.
Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, wrote in a post to the social media platform X that Harris was repeating a “debunked hoax” and later added, “They’re going to get Trump killed. Pray.”
🚨BREAKING: Kamala Harris instantly seizes upon an already DEBUNKED hoax from the Atlantic and weaponizes it to attack Donald Trump:
"Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man who is responsible for the death of six million Jews."
They're going to get Trump killed. Pray. pic.twitter.com/OBKAWedqqf
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) October 23, 2024
Kirk likely referenced the 15 witnesses who went on record with statements denying various claims advanced by Kelly, as well as government documents indicating the former chief of staff has been factually incorrect about key events in the Trump administration.
The Trump campaign called Harris’ claims about Trump the actions of “a stone-cold loser who is increasingly desperate because she is flailing, and her campaign is in shambles.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in the campaign’s statement, “This is why she continues to peddle outright lies and falsehoods that are easily disproven.”
🚨BREAKING: Trump campaign responds to Kamala Harris’ desperate press conference today comparing Trump to ‘Hitler’ pic.twitter.com/oHPvLQLtlT
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 23, 2024
Cheung also directly accused Harris’ rhetoric of sparking the prior assassination attempts against the former president.
“The fact is that Kamala’s dangerous rhetoric is directly to blame for the multiple assassination attempts against President Trump and she continues to stoke thef lames of violence in the name of politics.”
Cheung said, “She is despicable and her grotesque behavior proves she is wholly unfit for office.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Vivek Ramaswamy” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
