'Here's The Dirty Little Secret...': Vivek Ramaswamy Answers Voter's Question At Turning Point Event

4 months ago

At the Turning Point Action Conference in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday, Vivek Ramaswamy took voters' questions.

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Transcript

00:00How can we get you to come to Pennsylvania?

00:23Well look, consider the invitation accepted.

00:26And I've already told you about it.

00:29We did some grassroots voter localization already after I dropped out of the race.

00:34Come just right now, you've got me held my feet to the fire. You have my commitment.

00:38Pennsylvania is a must. We've got to do it.

00:40If this election is going to be won by racers in margins, we don't want to show up on November 6th.

00:46Wake up that morning and ask ourselves, what else could I have done today?

00:53Ask yourself that question now.

00:55And now is your time to answer it.

00:57Answer that not on November 6th, but answer it today.

00:59I'm going to do the same thing and I'll see you at the end.

01:04Vivek, good to see you.

01:06I'm a pastor from Iowa.

01:08You were in a fabulous campaign in Iowa.

01:10God bless you, God bless your family.

01:13I'm also a missionary in Armenia.

01:15And I noticed that you have spoken about Armenia.

01:18I was a witness to the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh, Artsakh.

01:23And the desecration of the oldest Christian churches in the world.

01:28It's the oldest Christian nation.

01:30How are we as the United States going to get behind persecuted Christians in places like the South Caucasus and the Middle East?

01:40How can we do that?

01:42And how can we stand for freedom and liberty and justice for our country?

01:49And allow these Christians to be persecuted the way they have been in places such as Armenia?

01:56Thank you, Pastor.

01:57Good to talk to you again.

01:59I'm glad you're raising this because I want to answer this in a way that really clarifies the answer.

02:04Because you might hear about this.

02:05I was the only presidential candidate who spoke about this because it's important.

02:08There's 120,000 Armenian Christians who were displaced from their homeland in the Artsakh region.

02:14Does that mean that we should be going to war and fighting somebody else's war for their border?

02:19As I'm opposing in Ukraine, we shouldn't be doing it in Armenia either.

02:22But actually, here's the dirty little secret.

02:25It's actually the U.S. taxpayer, all of us, who is funding Azerbaijan to actually do it.

02:34That's the ugly underbelly of the whole thing is our own taxpayer dollars are paying for it.

02:40So the irony is that everybody who somehow in the Ukraine caucus,

02:44which is the most popular political party in the United States of America apparently,

02:47doesn't have a peep to say about actually the real human rights travesty that we're responsible for funding.

02:56So here's my belief. It's controversial, but I'll say it anyway.

02:59The first and sole moral duty of U.S. elected leaders is actually to the citizens of the United States of America.

03:09And we stand with our allies by not funding the very people who are trampling over them.

03:15And you have 120,000 reasons for me to continue to talk about this issue as I will,

03:20and I'm hoping to travel to Armenia later this year to actually make a point.

03:23So thank you, my friend.

03:24I'll invite you to come with me.

03:25I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Great to see you.

03:29What besides praying is the most important thing we young people can do for our country?

03:37I'll give it to you. How old are you, says young people?

03:40I'm 14.

03:41You're 14 years old. Give this woman a round of applause.

03:48That's a great question.

03:52So I'll tell you, right now I think we have a culture of fear in this country.

03:57Spread like an epidemic, faster than COVID-19.

04:01All 60 directions. COVID maybe will spread a little bit off this way.

04:04Fear spreads off in directions.

04:08Here's my ask of you.

04:11When you find yourself in a room and you are the only person who believes what you do,

04:18I'm going to ask you today to stand up and say it.

04:22Say it with a smile.

04:24And say it with commitment.

04:26But part of respecting your neighbor and your friends is to tell them what you actually believe.

04:32And if you do that, you know what?

04:33Fear has been infectious, but courage can be contagious in this country.

04:36It just requires more people like you to actually step up and show it.

04:41So yes, pray, number one.

04:42And number two, speak your mind and don't apologize to anybody for it.

04:46That's really what it means to be a young American.

04:48Thank you.

04:57I'm a longtime fan, a longtime supporter.

04:59I'm 18 years old.

05:00I'm here from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

05:02And seeing your passion, seeing your drive is just so encouraging to a youngster like me

05:07when they want to be on the stage like you.

05:09Encouraging young Americans, young and old in this country just like you.

05:13And my question for you as a Christian, in the political landscape, in the political arena,

05:20how can the Christian Church of America, which is so important to revitalizing the American dream,

05:25how can we get involved?

05:27What are good ways?

05:28So look, I think this is such an important question as I talk about individual, family, nation, and God.

05:35It's not a four-letter word.

05:37And part of what's happened is the same way we apologize for our own nation in the United States of America,

05:43I think a lot of Christians have been taught to apologize for who they are or what their faith actually is.

05:49That's part of the reason.

05:50The question about Armenia, the last guy who was standing where you are,

05:53the reason you don't hear about the Armenian human rights catastrophe is because the victims in that case are actually Christian.

05:59And the reality is you need to stop apologizing for your beliefs.

06:03We all need to.

06:04I'm Hindu. You know this.

06:07I believe in one true God.

06:09I believe he puts us here for a purpose.

06:11But I will say it's a lot harder to be any faith than any other faith that's harder to be today in the United States

06:16is to actually be Christian.

06:18Because you're taught that you're supposed to apologize for your beliefs, and I reject that.

06:22Our founding fathers rejected that.

06:24And so part of this is that it requires some sacrifice, even when it's not popular to say.

06:29Tell people why you believe in God.

06:31Tell people why you believe in Christ.

06:34Tell people why you live the life the way you actually do, and embody that by example.

06:39And here's what I see, especially young people.

06:41You said you're 18?

06:42A lot of young people are quietly hungry for something bigger.

06:46They've been served social media algorithms.

06:48They've been served other religions.

06:51Wokeism.

06:52Transgenderism.

06:54Climatism.

06:55Covidism.

06:56Globalism.

06:57Fauciism.

06:59You guys break down the list.

07:01These are, the climate religion in particular.

07:04Why do you see people bending the knee to a bit of fun word being some type of modern Joan of Arc thing?

07:09It's because if you stop believing in God, you're going to believe in some other false idol instead.

07:14You might as well believe in the real thing.

07:17And I would ask you to make sure you're expressing your beliefs to allow other people the permission to express theirs too.

07:23Thank you, Michael. I appreciate it.

'Here's The Dirty Little Secret...': Vivek Ramaswamy Answers Voter's Question At Turning Point Event

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