During a recent interview with Glenn Beck, CEO of Blaze Media, GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy appeared to contradict a statement from his Senior Advisor about a 2016 donation he made to a virulently anti-Trump Democratic candidate. While the Senior Advisor confirmed the donation to The Gateway Pundit was “purely friendship,” Ramaswamy’s take was notably different when speaking with Beck.
During the interview, Glenn Beck pointed out Ramaswamy’s past support for a candidate who was openly against Donald Trump.
“In 2016, you not only were against Donald Trump, but you actually made donations to somebody who is virulently anti-Trump,” Beck said.
Ramaswamy quickly clarified his stance, stating, “In 2016, I was not anti-Trump. I just didn’t vote because I was deeply jaded and skeptical of all politicians. I judged based on results, and [Trump] delivered for this country, and I voted for him with pride in 2020.”
“So what happened? But you gave $2,700 to Act Blue,” said Beck.
For context, Federal Election Commission (FEC) data reveals that Ramaswamy was a donor to the Democratic Party in the 2016 Democratic Primary.
FEC records show that on March 29, 2016, Vivek Ramaswamy made a $2,700 ActBlue donation to the Friends of Dena campaign group, which is associated with Democratic Party congressional candidate Dena Minning Grayson.
According to GOP presidential candidate Hirsh Singh, “In a video that is linked from Inquisitr’s website, Grayson can be seen making faces and even lip-synching an answer provided by Cohen simultaneously with him, indicating that she was an insider in the Never-Trumper world. Grayson’s own tweets and now deleted posts on medium.com confirm that she is part of the Never-Trumper world. Republican voters who have been shown this information alongside evidence of Vivek Ramswamy’s donation to her are stunned by the fact that they were led to believe that Vivek Ramaswamy represented their values.”
Below is Dena Minning Grayson’s video during Michael Cohen’s hearing in 2019, former attorney to President Donald Trump.
https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/status/1100910277531451392
https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/status/1100910277531451392
Glenn Beck then questioned the $2,700 donation Ramaswamy made to ActBlue, a fundraising platform for Democratic candidates. Ramaswamy’s explanation was that he was “dragged” into a fundraiser by a friend of a friend, who told him there was a doctor in the biotech industry running for Congress.
“I had no idea who this individual was. She’s in the biotech industry, and I’m a biotech CEO.” Ramaswamy said.
“I showed up, and stayed as long as minimal time as I could, but that was the entry ticket to go in. I frankly regret doing it just because it raised so many questions afterward. I wasn’t plotting to be a politician back then. But the fact of the matter is, if you’re a CEO, you get dragged around a lot of fundraisers in New York City. That was when I got dragged into and the ticket price is one that I wrote to get in,” he added.
“I couldn’t even tell you the name of the person who it was,” Vivek told Beck.
Ramaswamy’s recounting of events seems to conflict with a statement from his Senior Advisor Tricia McLaughlin, who spoke to The Gateway Pundit through email.
In a statement to The Gateway Pundit, Vivek’s Senior Advisor Tricia McLaughlin said that the donation to Dena Minning Grayson “was not a political in support, purely friendship.”
“Dena was a friend of Vivek,” McLaughlin said.
So who is telling the truth?
WATCH: