A video clip from 2003 showing a young Vivek Ramaswamy questioning Rev. Al Sharpton about his qualifications for running for president has gone viral on social media.
Ramaswamy, 38, who is now a Republican presidential candidate himself, shared the clip on X, and made a humorous remark about how things have changed.
In the 1min 13sec clip, Ramaswamy, who was then an 18-year-old student at Harvard University, asked Sharpton during a townhall event hosted by former MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews, “Reverend, Hello. I’m Vivek and I wanna ask you, last week on the show we had Senator [John] Kerry, and this week and the week before, we had Senator [John] Edwards. And my question for you is, of all the Democratic candidates out there, why should I vote for the one with the least political experience?”
Sharpton, who was a long-shot contender for the Democratic nomination in 2004, responded with a witty comeback, “Well, you shouldn’t, because I have the most political experience,” drawing laughter and applause from the audience.
“Don’t confuse people that have a job with political experience,” he added.
The former biotech executive seemed to appreciate Sharpton’s answer, as he smiled and nodded along with the crowd.
He tweeted on Monday, “I’ll give the 18-year-old version of myself a pat-on-the-back for eliciting the most sensible words ever to come from that man’s mouth. 20 years later, it’s funny how the tables have turned,” along with a laughing emoji.
Ramaswamy has no prior experience in politics, has faced criticism from his rivals in the 2024 Republican primary over his lack of policy expertise. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley attacked him during the first GOP debate last week, accusing him of supporting foreign enemies and abandoning US allies.
“You have no foreign policy experience and it shows,” Haley said to Ramaswamy.
Former Vice President Mike Pence also challenged Ramaswamy’s credentials at several points during the debate in Milwaukee.
“You got people on this stage that won’t even talk about issues like Social Security and Medicare. I mean, Vivek, you recently said a president can’t do everything,” Pence said.
“Well, I got news for you, Vivek — I’ve been in a hallway, I’ve been in the West Wing. A president in the United States has to confront every crisis facing America.”
“Joe Biden has weakened this country at home and abroad. Now is not the time for on-the-job training,” Pence continued.
We don’t need to bring in a rookie,” he added.
“We don’t need to bring in people without experience.”
Despite these personal attacks, Ramaswamy is polling at 7.5% nationally, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls, which puts him in third place behind former President Donald Trump (53%) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (13%).
