GOP Presidential Candidate Dismisses Trump's Role In Jan. 6 Riots, Blames Censorship Instead

Vivek Ramaswamy, a candidate in the Republican primary for the 2024 presidential election, on Friday, made controversial remarks about the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, suggesting that censorship, not former President Donald Trump‘s false rhetoric about a stolen election, caused the violence.

What Happened: Ramaswamy, in conversation with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson at the Family Leadership Summit, reasoned that big tech platforms' moderation of news about Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020 and perceived government overreach around vaccines and stay-at-home mandates during the pandemic prevented people from accessing truth, Politico reported.

"What caused January 6 is pervasive censorship in this country in the lead up to January 6," Ramaswamy said, repudiating the idea that Trump motivated the riot.

"You tell people in this country they cannot speak. That is when they scream. You tell people they cannot scream. That is when they tear things down."

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Why It Matters: Ramaswamy’s comments come amidst ongoing investigations and debates surrounding the events of Jan. 6. His stance appears to cater toward the wing of the Republican party that has sought to displace blame around the Jan. 6 riot from Trump's continued falsehoods that election fraud tipped the vote toward Joe Biden.

Ramaswamy also proposed a foreign policy plan that includes giving Russia the land it has sought to take from Ukraine during the war in exchange for it giving up its partnership with Beijing. Such a deal would not fly with European allies and stands in stark contrast with the Biden administration's current approach.

"I would negotiate a deal that ends the Ukraine war, freeze the current lines of control. Yes, that means giving part of the Donbas region to Russia," Ramaswamy said, referring to a region that Russia has sought to take from Ukraine.

"I would make a hard commitment that NATO never admits Ukraine to NATO. And those seem like unspeakable words, certainly in the Republican donor class, but we get something greater in return."

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