Sean Hannity’s Masterclass Interrogation Just Killed Vivek Ramaswamy’s 2024 Campaign

Vivek 2024, R.I.P.

Whatever slim hope remained of Vivek Ramaswamy’s White House dreams was completely dashed by Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night. In a masterclass interview, the Fox News host doggedly refused to let his guest slip or pivot away from his own comments, thereby demolishing a strategy of denial and deception the entrepreneur has deployed throughout his bizarre presidential campaign.

The focus of the discussion with Hannity was an interview between Ramaswamy and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that published Tuesday. Ramaswamy lamented to Carlson that his competition for the 2024 Republican nomination was “ignoring the interests of the U.S. right here at home” by focusing on foreign conflicts.

He then stated that political figures focus on certain conflicts, like the Israel-Hamas war, because of “financial and corrupting influences” — which he declared to be “shameful.”

Naturally, Ramaswamy came under fire for — intentionally or not — deploying the anti-Semitic trope that Jews control the world through financial might.

It’s the same kind of comment that saw Rep. Ilhan Omar, when she said support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins,” condemned.

Unlike Omar, however, Ramaswamy got a pass from Fox News — until his interview with Hannity.

Hannity relentlessly confronted Ramaswamy with his own words. When the candidate tried to claim he was the victim of a “shameful mischaracterization,” Hannity stopped him cold:

“Hey, Vivek, wait a minute, stop right now. You do this in every single interview. You say stuff and then you deny it. You deny your own words. So, you know, why don’t you just own what you say and stand by it and stop playing these games?”

Brutal.

After several minutes of Ramaswamy filibustering and and Hannity pressing him, the candidate leveled a clichéd allegation of “fake news,” to which the Fox News host replied, “Did I or did I not quote your exact words?

When Ramaswamy agreed that Hannity had quoted his exact words, the interview ended in a stunning kiss-off. “Thank you,” Hannity said, cutting off his guest mid-scramble, “I’ve got to go.”

As Ramaswamy rambled on about Azerbaijan, his feed was effectively cut, with Fox News viewers left with a frustrated Hannity dismissing the “asinine” argument put forth by Ramaswamy.

Of course, Ramaswamy’s campaign was never serious. He may be drawing tons of media attention (arguably his goal) and beating Ron DeSantis in some polls. Still, he’s not running for president. He’s running as America’s Most Devoted Trump Sycophant (Tuesdays at 9PM on Newsmax!)

That might do well in a race where Trump is not running, but guess what? Trump is running — and beating his billionaire vassal by more than 50 points in the polls.

It’s hard to imagine Ramaswamy resurrecting whatever campaign he had left after this brutal takedown, and credit to Hannity for a respectful but thorough interrogation of dishonest political rhetoric.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.