Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential campaign clarified that he wasn't calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "Nazi" at Wednesday's Republican presidential debate.
Ramaswamy departed from the other Republicans onstage in taking a more critical view of Ukraine, condemning Zelensky and arguing Ukraine wasn't "some paragon of democratic leadership."
Zelensky isn’t some paragon of democratic leadership. That’s the farce the bipartisan Establishment force-feeds you. In a span of just two years, the comedian in cargo shorts has made moves that bear a striking resemblance to the tactics employed by Vladimir Putin: Zelensky has… pic.twitter.com/Re9vl83LLZ
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 9, 2023
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"I'm actually enjoying watching the Ukraine hawks quietly, delicately tiptoe back from their position as this thing has unwound into a disaster," he said, referring to recent Ukrainian setbacks in the war. "The first half of this race, I was the only person standing for it, now they're actually quietly coming around to be more cautious as they should. Level with the American people here. Ukraine is not a paragon of democracy. This is a country that has banned 11 opposition parties. It has consolidated all media into one state TV media arm — that's not democratic. It has threatened not to hold elections this year unless the U.S. forks over more money — that is not democratic."
His next remarks drew confusion from many, as he appeared to combine two strains of thought into one.
"It [Ukraine] has celebrated a Nazi in its ranks. The comedian in cargo pants, a man called Zelensky, doing it in their own ranks — that is not democratic," Ramaswamy said.
Zelensky isn’t some paragon of democratic leadership. That’s the farce the bipartisan Establishment force-feeds you. In a span of just two years, the comedian in cargo shorts has made moves that bear a striking resemblance to the tactics employed by Vladimir Putin: Zelensky has… pic.twitter.com/Re9vl83LLZ
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 9, 2023
Ramaswamy spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin acknowledged that the comments were easy to misconstrue out of context, as “He was talking quickly and kind of oscillated in his words,” she told the New York Times.
She said Ramaswamy was referring to an event in which the Canadian Parliament applauded a Ukrainian veteran of the Nazi 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS "Galizien" during a visit by Zelensky and his wife. Zelensky joined in the applause.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to Ramaswamy's campaign for comment.
The entrepreneur also condemned Ukraine's persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the primary church of Ukraine until the establishment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2018. Despite openly supporting Ukraine, Kyiv accused the UOC, under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, of serving as a fifth column and has enacted increasing restrictions against it.