Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy recently revealed that “the truth” about the 9/11 terrorist attacks is still unknown. The GOP presidential hopeful discussed his conspiracy theory after being asked about the January 6 insurrection. In an effort to switch gears, Ramaswamy pivoted to offer his opinions on 9/11. During an interview with The Atlantic, the Ohio native said that the federal charges of former President Donald Trump are “obviously politically motivated” to prevent him from running for office again. Ramaswamy further suggested that the Trump supporters who stormed The Capitol in 2021 were part of a carefully orchestrated setup.
“I don’t know, but we can handle [the truth],” Ramaswamy told the publication. “Whatever it is, we can handle it. Government agents. How many government agents were in the field? Right?” The GOP candidate’s theory continued to spiral as he projected his concerns of sabotage by the U.S. government onto the 9/11 tragedy that claimed the lives of 2,996 people.
“I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers,” Ramaswamy said, noting that to his knowledge, none of the victims of that day were government officials. “Maybe the answer is zero. It probably is zero for all I know, right? I have no reason to think it was anything other than zero,” he said.
Ramaswamy continued his unconventional explanation by adding, “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.” The Republican further elaborated on his thoughts while casting doubt on the events that took place on January 6. “Well, if we’re doing a Jan. 6 commission, absolutely, those should be questions that we should get to the bottom of,” said the controversial candidate.
When the reporter for The Atlantic asked him how the two events had any correlation, Ramaswamy seemingly backtracked on his statements. “Oh yeah, I don’t think they belong in the same conversation,” he said, admitting his own faults. “I think it’s a ridiculous comparison. But I brought it up only because it was invoked as a basis for the January 6 commission.” But one point Ramaswamy refused to back down on was the alleged “truth” of 9/11. “I mean, I would take the truth about 9/11,” he said. “I am not questioning what we — this is not something I’m staking anything out on, but I want the truth about 9/11.”
His remarks were met with criticism and backlash. Surprisingly, Ramaswamy claimed to have been misquoted by The Atlantic during his interview. The publication released an audio clip of his response, which was verbatim to what was published in The Atlantic. A lengthy tweet from August 9, 2023, shows Ramaswamy trying to explain his belief that Saudi intelligence officials were involved in the 9/11 attacks and that the U.S. was part of a coverup. The GOP candidate clarified his remarks while speaking with CNN, saying that The Atlantic’s quotes were “wrong.”
