‘Kaitlan, Kaitlan, Kaitlan!’ CNN Interview With Vivek Ramaswamy Gets Heated After Collins Brings Up His ‘Controversial Comments’
An interview between CNN host Kaitlan Collins and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy became heated on Monday after Collins brought up Ramaswamy’s comments about arming Taiwan.
During the interview, Collins confronted Ramaswamy with a clip where he remarked, “Guess what, we’ll put a gun in every Taiwanese household, train them how to use it, that is how you make Xi Jinping think twice.”
As the chyron changed to “Ramaswamy challenged on his controversial comments,” Collins asked, “Do you really think that would be a sufficient plan to deter a Chinese invasion if it includes long-range missiles, ground troops, an aerial blockade, a naval blockade?”
Ramaswamy responded:
Kaitlan, Kaitlan, Kaitlan, Kaitlan, Kaitlan! Of course it’s not sufficient. You take that tiny little clip when I articulated at the Nixon Library last week, a one-hour speech with a whole range of deterrents. That is part of it, but I’ve also said that I would pull Russia out of its military alliance with China. I’ve also said that we would bolster our partnership with India.
He continued, “Yes, part of this is turning Taiwan into a porcupine. I think exporting our Second Amendment is a relatively free or low-cost way to do that, but I find it laughable that you will take that clip and then put words into my mouth as though that was a sufficient deterrent. Kaitlan, with due respect, that’s a joke, especially when I’ve offered as expansive of a deterrent strategy as I have.”
Collins shot back, “It’s not putting words into your mouth and it’s not saying that you didn’t say those other things, it’s just saying that you did say that part of your—”
“I never said it was sufficient,” Ramaswamy interrupted. “I never said it was sufficient. This is really funny, Kaitlan. It’s been very educational for me to learn how media works.”
After Collins noted, “I just think when you listen to plans to deter China, you know, it typically focuses on radar systems and missiles that they need, not necessarily AR-15s,” Ramaswamy replied, “Kaitlan, you might be able to do this trick better with other candidates who don’t really know how to respond to the game.”
“It’s not a trick, I’m just simply asking what your plan is with Taiwan and following up on something that you suggested,” Collins assured.
After expanding on his policies to deter a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, including his gun plan, Ramaswamy said, “I will not allow someone to put words in my mouth and say that I ever said that was sufficient. It is not.”
“I’m not putting words in your mouth. I’m simply asking about something you said. We played a quote that you made,” Collins argued, before moving onto Ramaswamy’s controversial comments about 9/11, which sparked even more protests from the presidential candidate, who remarked, “This is just lifting the curtain on how media works.”
Watch above via CNN.
