A Republican presidential hopeful for 2024, Vivek Ramaswamy, is criticizing CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
In a tweet on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, Ramaswamy wrote, “Hilarious interview with [CNN] last night.”
“Felt like I was talking to a petulant teenager,” he added.
Hilarious interview with @CNN last night. Felt like I was talking to a petulant teenager. https://t.co/MUik3mMfNp
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 22, 2023
On Monday night, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins noted it was reported Ramaswamy asked if federal agents were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers during an interview with The Atlantic. She asked him to explain his comment.
“This is really — it’s funny. I mean The Atlantic is playing the same game as CNN — it’s funny,” the candidate responded.
He went on, “What I said is on Jan. 6, I do believe that there were many agents in the field, and we deserve to know who they are. On 9/11, what I’ve said is that the government lied. And this is incontrovertible evidence, Kaitlan, the government lied about Saudi Arabia’s involvement.”
Ramaswamy referred to a 2016 FBI document released in 2021 that linked Saudi nationals to the 9/11 hijackers.
Collins then asked if he was misquoted in The Atlantic’s article.
“Are you telling me the quote is wrong? Because it says, how many federal agents were on the planes,” she said.
Ramaswamy responded, “I am actually… I asked that reporter to send the recording because it was on the record. He refused to do it.”
On Tuesday, The Atlantic released the audio of Ramaswamy’s interview. He was heard insisting, “I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers. Maybe the answer is zero. It probably is zero for all I know, right?”
NEW: Atlantic writer @JohnGHendy calls @VivekGRamaswamy’s bluff, produces audio of their on record interview.
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) August 22, 2023
Last night on CNN, Ramaswamy told @kaitlancollins his controversial 9/11 comments were misquoted…the recording proves they were not. pic.twitter.com/dN1RCWvnRI
Ramaswamy’s campaign responded to the release of the audio by claiming it “clearly demonstrates that Vivek was taken badly out of context and even this small snippet proves that.”