Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy hit back at CNN’s Dana Bash Sunday morning as she lectured him about his comments on race.
Bash accused Ramaswamy of taking his remarks to “another level” by comparing Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s comments to “grand wizards of the modern KKK.” The candidate made the remark in response to Pressley reportedly saying “we don’t need any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice.”
“You know, I’m sure, the KKK was responsible for over a centuries worth of horrific lynchings, rapes, murders of black people. How in any way are the views you’re talking about comparable to the views and atrocities committed by the KKK?” Bash said.
“What I said is the grand wizards of the KKK would be proud of what they would hear her say because there is nothing more racist than saying that your skin color predicts something about the contents of your viewpoints or your ideas,” Ramaswamy responded.
“You didn’t just say they would be proud, you said ‘these are the words of the modern grand wizards of the modern KKK,'” she added. (RELATED: Trump Says That Ramaswamy Gained ‘Big Win’ In The First Debate)
“It is the same spirit. You’re right about that, Dana. I think it is the same spirit to say that I look at you, and based on just your skin color, that I know something about the content of your character,” Ramaswamy said. “That I know something about the content of the viewpoints you’re allowed to express. For Ayanna Pressley to tell me because of my skin color, I can’t express my views. That is wrong, it is divisve, it is driving hate in this country.
“That is a debate—” Bash interjected.
“This is dividing our country to a breaking point and I think we need to move beyond it,” Ramaswamy continued.
“That is a debate that is based on non-violent discussion that you just said she’s using rhetoric. There is — that’s one thing and another thing is to say that she represents and she is a modern version of a KKK, which as you know is dedicated to the subjugation and violence against black people. How on earth is she a modern day grand wizard of that kind of organization?”
Ramaswamy said Pressley and the political left sound like the KKK by spewing the view that racial minorities are required to have a particular point of view. Bash continued to tell Ramaswamy about the history of the organization.
“They lynched people, they murdered people, they raped people, they burned their homes,” Bash said.
“And that was wrong,” Ramaswamy said. “That was obviously wrong.”
“Because of—” Bash said in an attempt to continue.
“Wrong. Obviously, that is obviously a wrong thing for them to have done,” the candidate continued.
“If you want to have an intellectual discussion, do you think that maybe comparing her to the grand wizard and the notion of what she said to being a modern leader of the KKK was maybe a step too far or you stand by what you said?” she asked.
Ramaswamy said he stands by what he said to begin an “open and honest discussion” among the American public and accused Bash of taking a “fringe comment.”
“Alright, so you just said your comment was fringe,” Bash said.
“No, I’m saying you drew a fringe comment from a much longer speech. I described you picking one fringe comment from a long speech that I gave to duck debate from the real issue I don’t think you want to have, Dana, because you probably agree with me on this,” Ramaswamy said. “That this is toxic rhetoric from leading politicians on dividing us on the basis of race. And I want to have the open debate.”