Ramaswamy condemns GOP intolerance at Turning Point USA conference

Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy used a speech at AmericaFest in Phoenix on Dec. 20 to condemn rising intolerance within the Republican Party, including ethnic attacks aimed at Indian Americans and Second Lady Usha Vance. The remarks marked one of Ramaswamy’s strongest rebukes of far-right rhetoric, though his decision to speak out came only after similar language had been directed at him personally months earlier.

In his speech, the 40-year-old Cincinnati-born son of immigrants from Kerala rejected attempts to define American identity by lineage or genetics, describing the idea of a “heritage American” as a growing strain within parts of the online right. “There is no American who is more American than somebody else,” Ramaswamy said.

He warned that ancestry-based standards would exclude figures across the political spectrum, including elected officials and public servants whose families immigrated to the United States. Ramaswamy framed the issue as a test of whether conservatism would remain rooted in constitutional principles or move toward ethnic gatekeeping.

Ramaswamy drew sustained applause when he addressed slurs aimed at Usha Vance, whose parents immigrated from India. “If you call Usha Vance, the second lady of the United States of America, a JEET, you have no place in the future of the conservative movement,” he said.

The remark stood out for its specificity and directness at a conference where leading Republican figures have generally avoided addressing harassment aimed at family members. Vice President JD Vance has not publicly responded to attacks directed at his wife, instead focusing his remarks on party unity and free speech.

Ramaswamy, an investor and entrepreneur, touched on these themes earlier in a recent New York Times opinion essay that also promoted large-scale national projects, including a proposed moon base, as a way to restore a shared sense of civic purpose. In the essay, he wrote about the ethnic hostility he has faced online and contrasted lineage-based views of American identity with citizenship grounded in constitutional allegiance.

It’s worth noting that Ramaswamy’s most direct challenge to far-right rhetoric followed months of skepticism from Republican voters and online attacks targeting his Indian heritage and Hindu faith, rather than emerging earlier as similar language circulated more broadly within conservative spaces.