Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy pushed back on polls that show his rising unfavorability among voters, claiming “people are annoyed by my rise.”
When asked by Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” about recent polling showing Ramaswamy’s high unfavorables, the 2024 White House hopeful said, “The reality is many people are annoyed by my rise and believe that a 38-year-old is too young to be U.S. president.”
Bream referenced an opinion piece published in The New York Times last month, which wrote, “Of all the descriptors attached to Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old political tyro enjoying a bizarre surge in the Republican primary race for second place, the most common one seems to be annoying.”
Ramaswamy, a tech entrepreneur billionaire, appeared to laugh at Bream’s commentary, saying, his campaign has taken “intense criticism” over the last several weeks.
“This is part of the process, so I invite the open debate,” Ramaswamy continued, echoing his past comparison of himself to founding father Thomas Jefferson in discussions about his age.
“The fact of the matter is Thomas Jefferson was 33-years-old when he wrote the U.S. Declaration of Independence,” Ramaswamy said. “He also invented the swivel chair while he was at it, by the way. And so, I think we need to revive that spirit.”
Bream also touched upon former President Trump’s commanding lead in a recent GOP primary poll by Fox News, which showed Trump securing 60 percent of the Republican primary vote, compared to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 13 percent and Ramaswamy with 11 percent.
Asked about the point of his campaign as he and other GOP candidates struggle to catch up to Trump, Ramaswamy remained confident in his success.
“We came from 0.0 percent to where we are now. I think we’re on track to win this election,” Ramaswamy said.