Republican presidential nominee Vivek Ramaswamy snagged a $50,000 law school scholarship for immigrant descendants of the Soros family — despite now being passionately against affirmative action, and despite having already earned $1 million.
Ramaswamy, who was asked about the scholarship during a July appearance on conservative Real America’s Voice, claimed he took the money because he couldn’t afford Yale tuition.
But the explanation was ripped to shreds by MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan on Thursday, leaving a visibly writhing Ramaswamy struggling to change the subject.
“My question to you is, as an intelligent person interested in politics, why on earth are you obsessed with a 24-year-old’s $50,000 purse?” Ramaswamy asked Hasan. “It seems below your level.”
MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan quizzed Vivek Ramaswamy on Thursday about his 2011 scholarship
Ramaswamy was one of three to receive the scholarship, intended for immigrant families
Hasan, holding Ramaswamy’s tax records in his hand, replied, “I am interested in the truth, Vivek. It’s in the cap you wear. I’m interested in the truth: I like it when people tell the truth.’
Ramaswamy replied, ‘I think it’s pathetic. I think it’s sad and pathetic that we have important issues to talk about, for the future of the country. And you’re talking about a $50,000 scholarship in 2010 to go to Yale law school when I’m 24.”
The self-made 38-year-old made his fortune in finance and biotechnology, and is now estimated to be worth around $950 million.
His parents, who emigrated from India, were well-educated professionals: his father was an engineer and patent attorney, his mother a psychiatrist.
Ramaswamy has previously been asked why he accepted the grant from the Soros family – whose name is anathema to Republicans – and has previously replied that it was because he needed the money.
But Hasan split his statement on Thursday.
“You say you’re anti-identity politics, anti-affirmative, in a party that hates the name Soros — and yet you accepted a Paul and Daisy Soros scholarship in law school that was set up specifically for the children of immigrants,” Hasan said. .
“And your defense for that is that you didn’t have the money to pay for law school.
“Even though you had already made well over a million dollars by then.”
Ramaswamy initially tried to deny claiming he could not afford the fees.
‘That is not true,’ said Ramaswamy.
“My defense of this is that if someone gives you a scholarship at 24, you take it.”
Hasan replied, “No, you said it was because you didn’t have the money.”
Ramaswamy replied, ‘I didn’t say I didn’t have the money, I said at a time when I had much less money than now. $50,000 was…”
“No, that’s exactly what you said: I didn’t have the money, Vivek,” Hasan said.
“You keep forgetting your quote. You said: I didn’t have the money.’
Ramaswamy then tried to change course, pointing out that he had released 20 years of his tax returns.
Hasan thanked him, praised him for his transparency – and said he had them before him.
The returns show that Ramaswamy reported an income of $644,676 for 2009.
He had started working for 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 named a Soros Fellow.
The Fellowship Program for New Americans was founded in 1997 by Hungarian immigrants Paul and Daisy Soros as a way to ‘give back’ to the country that had provided them and their children with tremendous opportunities.
That year, Ramaswamy gave up $2.25 million in revenue.
He graduated from Yale in 2013.
As Hasan continued to press him on the reasoning behind accepting the money, Ramaswamy again changed course and tried another explanation.
“Every 24-year-old should take $50,000,” Ramaswamy said.
“Wait a minute, you told me to look at it,” Hasan said. “You had the money to pay for your law school.
“You didn’t need a Soros affirmative action grant that you’re now criticizing.”
Ramaswamy grew increasingly annoyed with the interrogation, which he called “pathetic.”
Ramaswamy, becoming more and more agitated, asked Hasan, “Which falsehood do you want me to address: the financial one, or the one about my views on affirmative action?”
Hasan replied, “Didn’t you make $750,000?”
“Not when I applied for that scholarship, that fall,” Ramaswamy said.
Hasan said to him, “Yes, you did. This is inconvenient for you, because you did.
“I’ve got the tax returns in front of my face.”
Ramaswamy began to argue that Hasan did not understand the timing of hedge fund bonus payments — which Hasan said did not affect years of tax returns.
Ramaswamy then argued that the tax return figures were pre-tax, which caused Hasan to raise his eyebrows.
Ramaswamy finally gave up trying to explain why he claimed to need the money.
‘Well, do you know what the fact is, Mehdi? $50,000 made a big difference to me then,” he said.
And anyone who has a few hundred thousand dollars in the bank will receive $50,000 with no strings attached. Take the stock market.
“But 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? It seems below your level.’