Fact-Check: Did the Soros Family Help Vivek Ramaswamy Go to Law School?
As America barrels toward the 2024 primary and general election, the cast of main characters is becoming clear.
On the Democratic side, it will almost assuredly be President Joe Biden on the ticket, though Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is doing his best to crash the party.
On the Republican side, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have separated themselves from the rest of the field (with Trump holding an early, comfortable lead) — but Vivek Ramaswamy is clearly drawing the attention of somebody.
Ramaswamy, who has surged to fourth place in the Real Clear Politics average of polls (just behind former Vice President Mike Pence), has found himself the target of a number of “gotcha!” accusations of late, including that he is:
- An agent of the World Economic Forum
- Connected to George Soros
- Bought by the Soros family
- Pro-COVID masking
Ramaswamy chose to tackle those accusations head-on in a video he posted to Twitter on Wednesday.
We’re surging. The knives are out. “WEF.” “Soros.” “Masks.” Here’s the TRUTH. Stay skeptical. Keep the questions coming & I’ll keep answering. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/eOjKTRndZu
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) July 19, 2023
“What is my relationship with the World Economic Forum?” Ramaswamy began. “Answer: None, other than being probably their biggest critic here in the United States.”
He explained that the WEF “named me on a list of so-called young global leaders. They did it despite the fact that I turned down their award. They kept my name on that list despite the fact that I repeatedly asked them to take it off because I did not share their values. I’m an opponent of it.”
Ramaswamy said he even sued the WEF for refusing to remove his name from the list. That lawsuit was filed in April, according to the New York Post.
The GOP candidate then addressed the Soros allegations, flat-out stating that he is in no way connected to the far-left Hungarian billionaire.
As for the money he purportedly took from the Soros family, Ramaswamy was upfront about it.
“In 2010, I won a scholarship when I was 24, 25 years old, headed to law school, that was partly funded by, not George Soros, but Paul Soros, who’s a relative, a brother of George Soros, who made his money independently, who, by the way, is now dead.”
Indeed, Ramaswamy is listed as a fellow on the website of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.
Ramaswamy added, “And you know what? If I had turned down that scholarship back then, that would’ve been so foolish that anybody that foolish probably should have no place anywhere near the White House doing trade deals on behalf of this country.”
Finally, Ramaswamy addressed the masking controversy, which appears to have been dredged up by a popular pro-Trump Twitter account:
Here is Vivek supporting masks and being upset at conservatives that opposed them
If you look back more than 6 months into this guy’s past, you’ll see he’s a soft, mushy clown who learned to say a bunch of buzzwords conservatives love in 2023 https://t.co/4rfz8VupwT pic.twitter.com/hfvAgpAZwl
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) July 17, 2023
In July 2020, Ramaswamy tweeted that “wearing a mask = personal responsibility” and said it was “puzzling when conservatives oppose it.”
Ramaswamy now attributes that tweet to his “anti-government instincts.”
He explained in the video that his inclination to approve of masks was because of the government and Dr. Anthony Fauci telling Americans not to buy them to make sure health care professionals were properly stocked.
So to recap:
- Ramaswamy is tied to the WEF effectively against his will.
- He claims he has no connection to George Soros.
- However, he did accept a scholarship funded by Soros’ brother.
- He admits to taking an “anti-government” pro-masking stance once upon a time.
On Friday, Ramaswamy announced that he had received enough unique donations to qualify for the first Republican primary debate.
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