Vivek Talks Trump Amicus Brief in Appearance with Steve King, Candace Owens in Iowa

Steve King, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Candace Owens speak to press outside the National Czech-Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Jan. 11, 2024. Nathan Worcester/The Epoch Times

With Iowa’s Republican caucus now just days away, presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy needs your eyes and ears. As always, he has been more than willing to court controversy, speaking what he invariably claims to be “truths.”

On Jan. 11 in Cedar Rapids, Mr. Ramaswamy appeared with two controversial figures on America’s conservative scene.

To his right stood Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who was primaried by another Republican after the New York Times alleged that he spoke in support of white nationalism.

To his left stood Candace Owens, whose critical comments on Israel have drawn attacks from a fellow Daily Wire host, Ben Shapiro.

Mr. Ramaswamy, who bounded up to the stage in his signature bomber jacket, gloried in imagining how the legacy media would report on the trio: one Indian American, one black, one white, all subjected to accusations of prejudice amplified by an often unsympathetic press.

“Is it going to be the brown face of white supremacy, the white face of brown supremacy? They’re going to have a field day with that,” he said.

Ms. Owens alluded to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s comparison between Mr. Ramaswamy and OpenAI’s generative artificial intelligence platform, Chat-GPT.

“I’ve had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT standing up here,” Mr. Christie said at the first Republican primary debate in August.

Mr. Christie dropped out of the race for the GOP’s presidential nomination on Jan. 10.

“Oh, you mean he’s smart? You’re saying he sounds like a computer that spits out answers that are correct? Okay, I can get comfortable with that,” Ms. Owens said.

Mr. Ramaswamy came to Cedar Rapids after his attorneys filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of former President Donald Trump.

An attempt to remove President Trump from the ballot in Colorado has made it to that body after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that he is not eligible to appear on the state’s Republican primary ballot.

Their reasoning hinged on the assertion that the former president is an “insurrectionist” under clause three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“Those who seek to disqualify presidential candidates from even appearing on the ballot fundamentally distrust the American people.

“They fear that the voters if allowed to evaluate a full range of options, may make the ‘wrong’ choice as perceived by political elites, and so they seek to deprive voters of that choice entirely,” Mr. Ramaswamy’s attorneys held.

On a stage at the National Czech-Slovak Museum & Library, Mr. Ramaswamy said he filed the amicus brief “because, frankly, I don’t know if they’re going to make the best legal arguments.”

Steve King and Vivek Ramaswamy listen on as commentator Candace Owens speaks at a Ramaswamy campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Jan. 11, 2024. Nathan Worcester/The Epoch Times

Yet, Mr. Ramaswamy denied to The Epoch Times that he had spoken critically of President Trump’s legal team while on stage.

He then added, “I think legal arguments that have been made in some of the past cases I think were not made as effectively as they should be”—delicate phrasing from a man who has banked on being President Trump’s successor even as the former president continues to fight for the same nomination, and in his various legal battles.

Mr. Ramaswamy wrapped up the event as another GOP hopeful, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, was preparing to hold her own “Pick Nikki” campaign event nearby.

Meanwhile, Mr. DeSantis is spending the evening whipping through events in Ames, Dubuque, and Clive.

President Trump wasn’t in Iowa on Jan. 11. Instead, he was in a New York City courtroom listening to closing arguments in New York’s civil fraud case against him.

“My legal issues, every one of them, every one, are all set up by crooked Joe Biden, every one of them,” he told reporters.

Iowan Ryan Horak (C) looks on after Vivek Ramaswamy's arrival at the National Czech-Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids on Jan. 11, 2024. Nathan Worcester/The Epoch Times

Mr. Ramaswamy also appeared with Mr. King in Des Moines yesterday. The two men spoke at a protest in the state capitol against the use of eminent domain to seize land for a proposed carbon capture pipeline.

The former lawmaker has been very active in opposing the plans.

Mr. King told The Epoch Times that the issue made the difference in his decision to endorse Mr. Ramaswamy.

“Trump’s not defending our constitutional property rights on this pipeline,” he said.