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Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy won a $50,000 scholarship to study law for descendants of immigrants from the Soros family and accepted the funds despite his wealth before enrolling.
Ramaswamy, when asked during a July appearance on the conservative Real America’s Voice channel about the scholarship, said he accepted the money because he couldn’t afford Yale law school tuition.
But the explanation was torn to shreds by MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan on Thursday, leaving Ramaswamy visibly squirming struggling to change the subject.
“You say you’re against identity politics, against affirmative action, in a party that hates the Soros name — and yet you’ve accepted a Paul and Daisy Soros scholarship to law school, specifically for children of immigrants,” Hasan,” the Republican hopeful said.
“And your defense is that you didn’t have the money to pay for your law school.
“Even if you had already made over a million dollars at the time.”
MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan asked Vivek Ramaswamy about his 2011 scholarship on Thursday.
Ramaswamy was one of three to receive this scholarship, designed for immigrant families.
Hassan tore up Ramaswamy’s explanation after the self-made millionaire asked him why he was bringing up the subject.
“My question to you is, why the hell are you, as an intelligent person interested in politics, obsessed with a 24-year-old’s $50,000 scholarship?” Ramaswamy asked Hasan. “That would seem beneath you. »
But Hasan dismantled his explanation on Thursday.
Hasan, holding Ramaswamy’s tax records in his hand, replied, “I’m interested in the truth, Vivek. It’s in the cap you wear. The truth interests me: I like people to tell the truth.
Ramaswamy replied: “I think it’s pathetic. I find it sad and pathetic that we have important subjects to discuss, for the future of the country. And you talk about a $50,000 scholarship in 2010 to go to Yale Law School when I was 24.
The 38-year-old self-taught Ramaswamy earned his fortune in finance and biotech, and his fortune today is estimated at around $950 million.
His parents, emigrants from India, were educated professionals: his father an engineer and patent attorney, his mother a psychiatrist.
Ramaswamy has previously been asked why he took the scholarship from the Soros family – whose name is anathema to Republicans – and he has previously replied that it was because he needed the money.
Ramaswamy initially tried to deny claiming he couldn’t pay the fee during his appearance on MSNBC.
“It’s not true,” Ramaswamy said. “My defense is that if someone gives you a merit scholarship at the age of 24, you take it.”
Hasan replied, “No, you said it was because you had no money. »
Ramaswamy replied, “I didn’t say I didn’t have any money, I said that at a time when I had much less money than I do now. $50,000 was…’
“No, you said exactly that: I didn’t have the money, Vivek,” Hasan said.
“You keep forgetting your quote. You said, “I didn’t have the money.”
Ramaswamy then attempted to change the subject and pointed out that he had released 20 years of his tax returns. Hasan thanked him, congratulated him on his transparency.
Reports show that for 2009, Ramaswamy declared an income of $644,676. He had started working in a hedge fund in 2007.
In 2010, the year he started taking classes at Yale, he reported an income of $485,895.
In July 2011, he was made a Soros Fellow and reported an income of $2.25 million.
“The New American Scholarship Program was established by Hungarian immigrants Paul and Daisy Soros in 1997 with the goal of ‘giving back’ to the country that has provided them and their children with great opportunities,” says the Yale website.
Ramaswamy graduated from Yale in 2013.
As Hasan continued to impress upon him the reasoning behind accepting the funds, Ramaswamy once again changed tack and tried a different explanation.
“Every 24-year-old should get $50,000,” Ramaswamy said.
“Wait, you told me to watch them,” Hasan said. “You had the money to pay for your law studies.
“You didn’t need an Affirmative Action Fellowship from Soros you are criticizing now.”
Ramaswamy grew increasingly agitated over the interrogation, which he described as “pathetic”.
Ramaswamy, becoming more and more agitated, asked Hasan, “Which lie would you like me to expose: the financial lie, or the one regarding my views on affirmative action? »
Hasan replied, “Didn’t you win $750,000?
“Not when I applied for this scholarship that fall,” Ramaswamy said.
Hasan told him, “Yes, you did. It’s embarrassing for you, because you did.
“I have the tax returns in front of my face.”
Ramaswamy began to argue that Hasan did not understand the bonus payment schedule for hedge funds – which Hasan said had no impact on years of tax filings.
Ramaswamy argued that the tax return figures were pre-tax, which caused Hasan to raise his eyebrows.
Ramaswamy finally gave up explaining why he claimed to need the money.
“Well, you know what the fact is, Mehdi? $50,000 made a big difference to me at the time,” he said.
“And anyone who has a few hundred thousand dollars in the bank is going to take $50,000 with no strings attached.” Take the purse.
“But my question to you is, why the hell are you, as a smart person interested in politics, obsessed with a 24-year-old’s $50,000 scholarship? That would seem unworthy of you.