Vivek Ramaswamy Says US Government Systematically ‘Lied About 9/11’

GOP candidate claims 'The Atlantic' took previous quotes out of context

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, on Aug. 12, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Monday that the U.S. government has lied in its official narrative about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and that Americans “deserve the truth.”

Mr. Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old candidate whose poll numbers have steadily increased in recent weeks, told CNN that The Atlantic misquoted him about 9/11 and said he was instead referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach when he mentioned the involvement of federal agents.

During a contentious exchange with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, the businessman was asked about his comments made during an interview last month. He said he was misquoted and said he believes there was no inside job—but that Saudi Arabia was involved in the attacks, and that the U.S. government covered it up.

“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,” Mr. Ramaswamy told the channel. “It’s the one that I articulated, which is that Saudi Arabia, absolutely, their intelligence was involved in 9/11. And that’s a difficult thing you’re not supposed to say. The facts back that up.”

He added: “The comments I made, the ones you just played, are indeed, what I believe, which was not that 9/11 was an inside job, but that Saudi Arabia absolutely was involved. And our government, for 20 years, lied to the American people, about it. I am guilty as charged that I do not follow the Establishment Super PAC donor-approved script, on these questions. But I am speaking truth, grounded in fact, at every step of the way.”

Speaking separately to the news outlet Semafor, Mr. Ramawamy said that the quote mentioned in The Atlantic article wasn’t “exactly what I said.” He continued to say: “It was a very free-flowing conversation, so I’m not blaming the reporter—but the real question I have about undercover federal agents is on Jan. 6, 2021, not 9/11.”

Mr. Ramaswamy had spoken to The Atlantic for an article, published Monday, for a discussion between him and reporter John Hendrickson. The Atlantic, in part, quoted him as saying that he believes it’s legitimate to question “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? 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,” he said.

“Well, if we’re doing a January 6 commission, absolutely, those should be questions that we should get to the bottom of,” he added. ‘‘Here are the people who were armed. Here are the people who are unarmed.’ What percentage of the people who were armed were federal law-enforcement officers? I think it was probably high, actually. Right?’

After Mr. Ramawamy said he was misquoted, The Atlantic released the interview audio that appeared to show the original quote was correct.

A spokesperson for the GOP candidate said that the audio still shows that the quote was taken out of context.

“We are grateful that the Atlantic released the audio after we repeatedly asked them to do so,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told news outlets Tuesday. “The audio clearly demonstrates that Vivek was taken badly out of context and even this small snippet proves that. We continue to encourage the Atlantic to release more of the recording, rather than their carefully selected snippet, so that full context and reality is exposed.”

In the CNN interview, he told Ms. Collins that he suspects many federal agents were present during the Jan. 6 breach and that their names should be released to the public.

“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. There was a Saudi spy named al-Bayoumi, who they lied, and the government lied, and the 9/11 Commission lied,” Mr. Ramawamy added, referring to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States that was set up in 2022. It found that U.S. intelligence agency failures allowed the Sept. 11 attacks to occur and that more aggressive actions could have prevented them.

First Debate

Mr. Ramaswamy will appear on the stage during the first Republican primary debate, scheduled to air on Fox News on Wednesday. His comments are likely to draw criticism from other candidates who are struggling in the polls.

A recent Emerson College poll released over the weekend showed Mr. Ramaswamy tied with Florida Gov. DeSantis for second place nationally at about 10 percent. However, both trail former President Donald Trump, who leads with 56 percent.

Other than Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. DeSantis, the debate will include North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the Republican National Committee (RNC) confirmed. The candidates had to meet a polling threshold, have 40,000 unique donors, and were also required to sign an RNC pledge to support the ultimate GOP nominee.

President Trump said he has not signed the pledge and said that there are candidates who he would not support. This week, he confirmed that he won’t be attending the event, although his son, Donald Trump Jr., confirmed that he will be there.