Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was caught in a blunder after he claimed The Atlantic misquoted him floating the idea that the federal government was perhaps involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
During a CNN appearance on Monday night, anchor Kaitlan Collins questioned him about the comments, to which Ramaswamy responded that they were actually about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He made a similar commentsuggesting he was misquoted to Semafor. But on Tuesday afternoon, The Atlanticpublished interview audio that verified the original quote about 9/11 was correct.
“I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers,” he told The Atlantic in aprofile that was published on Monday. “Maybe the answer is zero. It probably is zero for all I know, right? I have no reason to think it was anything other than zero.”
In the published audio, Ramaswamy then switches to discussing the necessity of a Jan. 6 commission that investigates the full events of the day. The billionaire entrepreneur, who has emerged in the GOP field as a conservative firebrand, has made a significant part of his message about exposing the “truth” that the federal government has withheld from its citizens. He has often cited the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as an example.
In a statement to POLITICO, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy’s campaign said the released audio showed that the quote was taken out of context.
“We are grateful that the Atlantic released the audio after we repeatedly asked them to do so,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. “The audio clearly demonstrates that Vivek was taken badly out of context and even this small snippet proves that. We continue to encourage the Atlantic to release more of the recording, rather than their carefully selected snippet, so that full context and reality is exposed.”
Ramaswamyhas previously questioned the government’s reports on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Earlier this month, he said he did not believe the government had told the complete truth.
“I haven’t seen evidence to the contrary, but do I believe everything the government told us about it? Absolutely not,” he said on Aug. 2. “Do I believe the 9/11 Commission? Absolutely not.”
In response to pushback after the interview, the presidential candidate took a personal hit at Collins.
“Hilarious interview with @CNN last night,” Ramaswamywrote Tuesday on X. “Felt like I was talking to a petulant teenager.”
