DES MOINES, Iowa—The moment felt crafted to send a message.
Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy stood beside former Iowa representative Steve King, who was taken down in the GOP primary by Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) after a New York Times article alleged Mr. King had defended white nationalism. Both men were holding their hands over their hearts as they listened to the U.S. national anthem.
Now, though, he has endorsed the anti-“woke” entrepreneur. Mr. Ramaswamy has made a point of standing by him despite criticism from the legacy press.
“I made a pledge to Steve, and I kept it at the fourth Republican presidential debate, talking about this issue,” Mr. Ramaswamy said at the Capitol.
Mr. King, still an influential political figure despite his exile from public office, has been a vocal local critic of the plans.
“It’s all driven by tax dollars and carbon credits,” he told The Epoch Times in May 2023.
Mr. Ramaswamy is reaping political dividends thanks to his strong stance on the issue. Another speaker at the event, state Rep. Steven Holt (R-Denison), announced his endorsement during the anti-pipeline rally. He had, in Mr. Ramaswamy’s delicate phrasing, backed “another candidate” up until that point—Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“[Mr. Ramaswamy] was, to my knowledge, the first presidential candidate to focus on this issue,” Mr. Holt told the crowd.
Mr. Holt’s perspective contrasts with the view of North Dakota state Sen. Jeff Magrum, a Republican and one of Summit’s biggest foes in the state Legislature.
“[Mr. Ramaswamy] was desperate for attention. Rather than missing a golden opportunity, he jumped on board,” Mr. Magrum told The Epoch Times.
Another contender who has been polling below the top candidates, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, dropped out of the GOP race on Jan. 10.
“Better late than never,” Mr. Ramaswamy told The Epoch Times in response to talk of Mr. Christie’s departure, still unconfirmed at the time he spoke.
Founders ‘Rolling Over in Their Graves’: Ramaswamy
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation.”A central concern for pipeline critics is the 2005 Supreme Court decision Kelo v. City of New London. The 5–4 decision—opposed by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor—permitted the government to take private property and give it to private rather than public parties.
The Court found that the City of New London’s seizure of land to sell to private developers qualified as a “public use” since it was part of the city’s plan for economic development.
“George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton and John Jay are rolling over in their graves, and they were when Kelo v. New London was decided,” Mr. Ramaswamy said.
The businessman was pressed on his view of oil and gas pipelines by anti-oil protesters.
‘Next Week It’s Going to Be Windmills’: Iowa Farmer
Allen and Christine Hayek are among the Iowans who stand in opposition to Summit’s vision.At the rally, Mr. Hayek was wearing a hat emblazoned with the name of his agricultural operation, “Hayek Farms.” The fact that he shares a last name with Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek, a legendary defender of private property rights, may just be a happy coincidence.
“Next week, it’s going to be windmills, it’s going to be solar panels ... They’re literally going to take over every piece of ground we have,” Mr. Hayek told The Epoch Times.
He said he thinks the Dakota Access case was a little different.
“Even that [served] a public good,” he said. “This thing serves no purpose other than to stick [CO2] in a hole.”
Another high-profile attendee of the Jan. 10 carbon pipeline rally was political activist and journalist Laura Loomer.
She told The Epoch Times that she was “ride or die” for President Trump, saying she couldn’t imagine him being prevented from running.
“The American people are not going to stand by for their elections to be stolen by power-hungry secretaries of state and enemies of our justice system,“ she said. ”To remove President Trump from the ballot, it would literally cause a revolution in our country.”
She suggested that Mr. Ramaswamy “would make an exceptional GOP nominee in 2028.”