Republican debate tonight: Could Vivek Ramaswamy be America’s new president?

Amelia Robinson is the Columbus Dispatch’s opinion and community engagement editor. @1AmeliaRobinson

Vivek Ramaswamy is doing the opposite of swimming in a pool of great political ideas — climate change is neither a “farce” or a “hoax” —, but the Columbus-area businessman does have charisma and the ability to forcefully gesture with his hands.

How far that gets him will faced a second test tonight when he debated nine other Republican presidential candidates at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

More: Ohio’s Vivek Ramaswamy calls for ‘new declaration of independence’ from China

What did Nikki Haley say about Vivek Ramaswamy at Republican debate?

It was the second GOP primary debate of the 2024 campaign on Fox Business and Univision.

The Cincinnati native mixed it up with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and  North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

He got into the biggest verbal battles with Scott and Haley over TikTok and other subjects. Haley did not hold back. She said she was infuriated by Ramaswamy.

“Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say,” Haley told the wealthy Ohioan.

Former President Donald Trump is not participating.

His outlandish and repeated comments about climate change are far from the only eye raising things Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, has said.

More: How to watch the second Republican presidential debate including Vivek Ramaswamy

More: ‘It’s us,’ ‘there’s hope,’ and 4 other things we must face about climate change| OSU experts

3 of the most controversial things Vivek Ramaswamy has said lately

On Affirmative Action → Ramaswamy called race-based admissions “a cancer on our national soul,” even though he used a Soros Fellowship for children of immigrants to help pay for his Yale Law School education.

On single parents →He slammed single mothers at the first GOP debate in Milwaukee, saying: “I did have the ultimate privilege of two parents in the house with a focus on educational achievement, and I want every kid to enjoy that… So part of the problem is we also have a federal government that pays single women more not to have a man in the house than to have a man in the house, contributing to an epidemic of fatherlessness.”

On racism →The 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur called Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., author Ibram Kendi and others “modern grand wizards of the modern KKK” at an August campaign appearance Iowa.

He later doubled down on the remarks.

Even more disturbing, he denied the existence of white supremacists a day before what investigators called a racially motivated mass shooting in Jacksonville, Florida.

“I’m sure the boogeyman white supremacist exists somewhere in America. I’ve just never met him. Never seen one, never met one in my life, right?” Ramaswamy said at that Iowa town hall. “Maybe I’ll meet a unicorn sooner. And maybe those exist, too.”

What do you think?

What impact will Ramaswamy’s comments have on bid for the White House? Let us know in a letter to the editor emailed to Letters@dispatch.com.

Amelia Robinson is the Columbus Dispatch’s opinion and community engagement editor. @1AmeliaRobinson

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nikki Haley on Ramaswamy: ‘I feel a little bit dumber for what you say’