During a CNN segment Friday, CNN host Jake Tapper laid into Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy over the 2024 hopeful's conspiracy theory regarding the United States Federal Reserve's operations.
Tapper began the segment saying, "The Lead has obtained video from the campaign trail of Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy — who is polling quite well in several states — agreeing with a completely untrue and, frankly, unhinged conspiracy theory about the Federal Reserve illegally adding zeros to the bank accounts of media companies," Tapper said.
The MSNBC host then rolled a clip of Ramaswamy's interview, in which the interviewer asked the GOP candidate, "But that is illegally taking money out the back door, not through the proper channels, or adding zeroes to bank accounts to the media or maybe your political opponents. How are you going to stop that illegal under-the-table spending of money from the Federal Reserve?"
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Ramaswamy replied, "The answer is, you have to actually make sure the Federal Reserve is politically accountable. See, this idea that it's supposed to be some sort of special entity that exists outside the checks and balances of government, that's where the original sin begins, right? And you're correct to point out what very few people are aware of. Absolutely, that happens."
When the video ended, Tapper emphasized, "Again, none of that is true. I know — you can't write it. You can't invent it. That is a deranged conspiracy theory, and then here you have a Republican presidential candidate saying, 'You're correct to point out what very few people are aware of.'"
CNN guest Jackie Kucinich added, "This is why, when you have candidates who are really trying to get attention — he is polling well because he's been everywhere, he's really been — but it's also about, it's about getting attention. It's about getting headlines, it's about appealing to every single voter that you possibly can, even those very much on the fringe, and we're seeing it right there. But because of that, you're going to turn off some other voters who might, you know, want to have someone who's taken a little more seriously."
Tapper concluded, "His rise in the polls means that he's taking away votes and attention from candidates who actually could be legitimate presidential candidates."
Watch Mediaite's video below or at this link.
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