Vivek Ramaswamy Doubles Down On Jan. 6 Conspiracy Theories

At a live CNN town hall on Wednesday evening, Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur seeking the Republican presidential nomination, stood by his recent comments suggesting that the U.S. Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, was an “inside job” that the federal government had an active role in fomenting.

CNN’s Abby Philip, who moderated the town hall at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, asked Ramaswamy how he felt about one of the Jan. 6 defendants accused of violence using Ramaswamy’s words about Jan. 6 at his sentencing the following day. Ramaswamy had made waves at the Dec. 6 GOP debate by declaring that he was the only person onstage willing to admit that “Jan. 6 now does look like an inside job.”

“If you had told me [three years ago] that January 6 was in any way an inside job, the subject of government entrapment, I would have told you that was crazy talk – fringe, conspiracy theory nonsense,” he replied. “I can tell you now having gone somewhat deep in this: It’s not.”