- Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign said he did not intend to call Volodymyr Zelenskyy a Nazi.
- Instead, a spokesperson told The New York Times that the GOP presidential hopeful was "talking quickly."
A spokesperson for GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said the conservative entrepreneur did not intend to imply that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a Nazi during Wednesday's Republican presidential debate.
"He was talking quickly and kind of oscillated in his words," spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The New York Times. McLaughlin said Ramaswamy was referencing a widely criticized episode in which Canadian lawmakers celebrated a Ukrainian WWII veteran that served in a Nazi division during Zelenskyy's visit.
Ramaswamy was responding to a question about Zelenskyy pushing for more US aid for Ukraine. Like a growing number of Republicans, Ramaswamy opposes further aid to Ukraine. Ramaswamy has also taken issue with the Ukrainian Parliament banning the Orthodox Church over possible ties to Russia.
"Level with the American people here, Ukraine is not a paragon of democracy," Ramaswamy said during the debate. "This is a country that has banned 11 opposition parties. It has consolidated all media into one state, TV media arm — that is not democratic. It has threatened not to hold elections this year unless the US forks over more money — that is not democratic." (Zelenskyy banned the parties due to suspected ties to Moscow. He has defended not holding elections by saying the nation needs to focus its resources on the war.)
It is the final part of Ramaswamy's response that drew eyebrows.
"It has celebrated a Nazi in its ranks. A comedian in cargo pants. The man called Zelenskyy. Doing it in their own ranks — that is not democratic."
—The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2023
Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, had family killed during the Holocaust. The Ukrainian leader has also invoked the Nazi genocide when discussing Russia's large-scale war against his nation.
In response to a request to comment from Insider, McLaughlin sent a reporter a link to a Politico report about the September incident. What the campaign did not mention is that by all accounts, Zelenskyy had nothing to do with the invitation to the veteran, who was later found out to have fought on behalf of the Nazis, to his speech before Canadian lawmakers.
According to the Associated Press, former Canadian House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota said he alone was responsible for inviting the 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka to Zelenskyy's speech. Rota resigned after a massive outcry following reports about Hunka's Nazi ties.