Vivek Ramaswamy Falsely Claims Jan. 6 Attack Was 'An Inside Job'

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy falsely suggested Wednesday that the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol by hundreds of Donald Trump supporters was somehow orchestrated by federal agents, echoing a pervasive conspiracy theory on the far right.

“Why am I the only person on this stage at least who can say that Jan. 6 now does look like it was an inside job?” Ramaswamy asked at the GOP presidential debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The claim from the conspiracy-curious candidate drew no pushback from the debate moderators or his fellow presidential candidates.

Many Republicans have sought to obfuscate the harrowing events that took place on Jan. 6, 2021, falsely claiming that the people who stormed the Capitol building were peaceful, that they were secretly leftists, or that they were undercover FBI agents.