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Businessman and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy appeared on Wednesday to call Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, a \u201cNazi\u201d during the latest GOP presidential debate.<\/p>\n
During a line of comments in which the Republican argued Ukraine is anti-democratic and undeserving of US aid, Mr Ramaswamy claimed, \u201cIt has celebrated a Nazi in its ranks, the comedian in cargo pants, a man called Zelensky. That is not democratic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The entrepreneur may have stumbled over his words and actually been speaking about a separate person as a \u201cNazi.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the debate in September, he put it slightly differently, telling the audience, \u201cWe need a reasonable peace plan to end this, this is a country whose president just last week was hailing a Nazi in his own ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attack is an apparent reference to an incident from Canada in September. <\/p>\n
After hearing a speech from Mr Zelensky, lawmakers there gave an ovation to 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, who fought for the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, a Nazi unit in WWII.<\/p>\n
The former soldier was invited to attend the address by then-House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota, who has since resigned.<\/p>\n
Neither the Ukrainian delegation present not the Canadian government was informed of the invitation, House government leader later Karina Gould told NPR. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo one in this House is above any of us. Therefore I must step down as your speaker,\u201d Mr Rota said in Parliament in late September. \u201cI reiterate my profound regret for my error in recognising an individual in the House during the joint address to Parliament of President Zelensky.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat public recognition has caused pain to individuals and communities, including to the Jewish community in Canada and around the world in addition to Nazi survivors in Poland among other nations. I accept full responsibility for my actions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Regardless of Mr Ramaswamy\u2019s intended meaning, the comments generated controversy immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cRepeating offensive Kremlin talking points is an odd way to try to win votes in the USA,\u201d retired Navy admiral James Stavridis wrote on X. <\/p>\n
Russia has repeatedly, falsely attacked the Ukrainian governments and its leaders as Nazis, and refered to its invasion of the country as \u201cdenazification.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m increasingly convinced that Ramaswamy is a Ukrainian secret agent performing a parody of how stupid and cruel pro-Putin MAGA propagandists sound,\u201d Russian chess champion and human rights activist Garry Kasparov wrote on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople advising Vivek Ramaswamay should be ashamed,\u201d former Trump White House official Alyssa Farah Griffin added in a post of her own. \u201cThe paycheck is not worth propping up this ridiculous & offensive person. Antisemitism is on the rising globally & he has the gall to say this about a Jewish leader who is at war for his nation\u2019s sovereignty. Despicable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Independent has contacted the Ramaswamy campaign for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington email Businessman and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy appeared on Wednesday to call Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, a \u201cNazi\u201d during the latest GOP presidential debate. During a line of comments in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n