Vivek Ramaswamy said it was a dumb thing to claim that he wanted to enter the Knicks locker room under the guise of welcoming them to Ohio and then probably campaign for his gubernatorial election — and then denied. Ramaswamy also highlighted the bigger picture that he was being targeted by the dirty politics of the Democrats in Ohio and said this was the reason why “sane” people rarely go into politics.
Here’s what happened
Ramaswamy and his wife attended Game 4 of the NBA playoffs in Cleveland, sitting courtside as the Cavaliers got wiped out by the New York Knicks. The Rooster, an online provocateur in Ohio politics, posted on his substack that after the game Ramaswamy tried to get into the Knicks locker room under the guise of welcoming them to Ohio and using his status as the GOP nominee for governor.Then the alleged story of Ramaswamy’s humiliation spread like wildfire and drew a lot of commentary.Ramaswamy claimed it was all fake and the imagination of a leftist blogger with mental health issues. In a lengthy statement, he clarified that he did not initially want to respond to the narrative as it was very dumb. But he had to respond to show how toxic politics is.“I’m a Cavs fan. Love going to their games, always have, I’ve been going for decades. My wife and I bought courtside tickets for Game 4 against the Knicks, and our team got smoked. It was brutal. The two of us watched the game, face in hands, in disbelief and dejection during the second half, then peaced out right after the buzzer straight to our car (accompanied by state-provided security the entire time),” he said.Ramaswamy said he did not obviously wait to watch the Knicks celebrating as a sharp poke in the eye would have been more pleasant.“No, we did not stick around to watch the Knicks celebrate their romping. There is literally no amount of money on Earth you could have paid me to sit around and watch them collect their Eastern Conference trophy, let alone watch them parade off the court to their locker room. A sharp poke in the eye would’ve been more pleasant,” he said.“But then, a left-wing Ohio blogger with mental health issues publishes that not only did I wait until after the ceremony, but that I lingered around & tried to enter the Knicks’ locker room after the game, and told them I wanted “welcome” them to Ohio. This is nuts! He also published other vivid details. Those were also 100% nuts,” he added.
The bigger picture is…
Ramaswamy said Ohio Democrats shared the fictional story, and then news platforms started reporting it. “The whole thing is dumb, to be clear. But it’s dirty, it happens repeatedly, and the public is better off knowing about it. It’s why sane people rarely go into politics. Anyone who does should probably have their own head checked out (including me). My team sensibly told me to not to dignify it by commenting on it. Politically, they’re probably right. But if every leader were to follow that advice, it rewards the incentives for bad actors to lie not just about me, but about others in the future too. Call me idealistic, but I don’t think that’s how things are supposed to work,” Ramaswamy said.
