Biotech entrepreneur and former GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy was given a lesson by New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about "being cool" after he made an appeal to Generation Z during the Republican National Convention, telling them they can be "rebels" if they call themselves "conservative" on college campuses.
Speaking from the podium at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ramaswamy issued the following remarks designed to court the youth:
"Our message to Gen Z is this: You're going to be the generation that actually saves this country."
"You want to be a rebel? You want to be a hippie? You want to stick it to the man? Show up on your college campus and try calling yourself a conservative."
“Say you want to get married, have kids, teach them to believe in God and pledge allegiance to their country.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Shortly afterward, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out the problems with Ramaswamy's message, pointing out that the GOP's regressive platform and support for convicted felon former President Donald Trump are not likely to appeal to Gen Z voters:
"Young people don’t take well to bigoted leaders who attack LGBTQ+ rights, outlaw abortion, cozy up to gun manufacturers + oil execs, and support a rapist for President."
"If you want to be cool so badly, try giving a damn about other people beyond yourself. Might open a few doors."
You can see what she wrote below.
Many cheered AOC's clapback and echoed her criticisms of Ramaswamy's rhetoric.
Ramaswamy later defended his stance in a follow-up response to Ocasio-Cortez in which he explicitly misrepresented the scope of the GOP's platform while in the same breath accusing Democrats of lying:
"Fact check: the GOP platform doesn’t oppose gay marriage and doesn’t support a federal abortion ban. The new Democrat strategy appears to be: lie to your voters [and] hope they never figure it out."
You can see what he wrote below.
But that didn't go over well either.
While the GOP recently tempered its 2024 party platform—deliberately softening its stance on LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights to fool voters—it's worth noting that Project 2025 would do exactly what Ramaswamy claims Republicans won't.
Project 2025 is a set of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation aimed at restructuring the United States federal government and consolidating executive power if the Republican nominee wins the 2024 presidential election.
Project 2025 is a comprehensive document detailing what a future Trump presidency would entail, encompassing not just policy proposals on immigration, education, and the economy, but also a vision of the America that conservatives aim to create in the next Republican administration, whether led by Trump or another standard bearer.
The plan includes several controversial proposals. It calls for a federal ban on pornography and seeks to enforce a federal ban on abortion under all circumstances, even in cases of severe fetal defects.
Moreover, the plan aims to reduce the size and power of the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and restrict its ability to conduct reviews, a proposal that has further magnified concerns that Trump's potential return to office would usher in an era of authoritarian governance.
