Ramaswamy warns Brazil’s X censorship is ‘coming’ soon to US if Harris wins

Former 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy argued the recent decision to ban X in Brazil is a warning for what’s to come in a hypothetical 2024 victory by Vice President Kamala Harris .

The billionaire and former Republican candidate questioned why many people who refer to themselves as proponents of free speech have “nothing to say” about the censorship of social media platforms in countries like Brazil. He added that this ban is part of “a growing trend” across the world, and cited the recent arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov in France, which allegedly happened for violating France’s directives related to free speech.

“He wasn’t arrested in Russia; he was arrested in France, an ally of the United States,” Ramaswamy said on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle. “So I do think there’s an irony for the very people who preach the importance of freedom and democracy and spreading that abroad happen to be the ones who are most silent when it comes to actually defending democratic norms, even amongst allied nations from France to Brazil to Canada to the U.K.”

Ramaswamy added that the U.S. government is “complicit” with the censorship that other countries conduct on social media platforms, pointing to examples such as the recent revelation by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that senior officials from the Biden White House “repeatedly pressured” his company to suppress content related to COVID-19 in 2021.

The billionaire also said that what makes the U.S. stand out from other countries is it is “bound by a common set of ideals” related to free speech. He added that it is “ironic” how many U.S. officials want to protect democracy by helping countries like Ukraine but will not defend the U.S.’s basic values in countries like Brazil.

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“And even as it relates to this whole discussion, Laura, it’s an interesting moment for us in the West and in the United States when the greatest threats to the U.S. aren’t coming from Russia or anywhere else,” Ramaswamy said. “They’re coming from right here at home for our own government actors that are violating our own enshrined principles to achieve their own, I would say, narrow-minded ends, especially on the left. That’s where we are today, and I think it’s a unique moment in American history where our greatest threats are actually resident right here within.”

Ramaswamy has campaigned for former President Donald Trump after suspending his 2024 campaign in January. Last month, he argued the Republican Party can win the 2024 election “handily” if the party showcases its alternative vision for the U.S. instead of basing their candidacy off of personalities.