38-year-old GOP presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, has been in damage control over comments he made about government involvement in the 9/11 attacks during a pre-debate interview. He claimed he was misquoted and was discussing the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, not the 2001 terrorist attacks but news outlets disagree. The contentious issue arose from Ramaswamy’s quote to The Atlantic:
“I think it is legitimate to say, ‘How many police, how many federal agents were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers?’ Like, I think we want — maybe the answer is zero, probably is zero for all I know, right? I have no reason to think it was anything other than zero. But if we’re doing a comprehensive assessment of what happened on 9/11, we have a 9/11 commission, absolutely that should be an answer the public knows the answer to.”
After claiming he was misquoted, The Atlantic refuted Ramaswamy’s assertion by releasing the recorded interview, which confirmed the original quote. A representative from Ramaswamy’s campaign described the interaction as a “free-flowing conversation”, emphasizing the questions were about Jan. 6 and not 9/11.
In a subsequent CNN interview with Kaitlan Collins, Ramaswamy maintained stated, “The truth is there are lies the government has told about 9/11, but it’s not the ones that somebody put in my mouth.”
Ramaswamy maintained that he believes many federal agents were active during the Jan. 6 events and the public should be informed of their identities. He also accused the federal government of deceiving the American people about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in 9/11.
