Politics

‘One True God’: Vivek Ramaswamy Speaks Out About His Hindu Faith

Vivek Ramaswamy spoke out about his Hindu faith. [Screenshot/X/VivekGRamaswamy]

[Screenshot/X/VivekGRamaswamy]

Julianna Frieman Contributor
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Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy spoke out about his Hindu faith Friday during an evangelical Christian forum in Iowa.

Ramaswamy sat beside fellow candidates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as he revealed his religious beliefs, which he referred to as “the elephant in the room.”

“I’m Hindu. I believe there’s one true God,” Ramaswamy said. “I believe God put each of us here for a purpose. My faith teaches me that we have a duty, a moral duty to realize that purpose. That we’re God’s instruments. He works through us in different ways, but we are still equal because God resides in each of us.”

Ramaswamy talked about the values espoused by his Christian high school in Cincinnati, explaining that they were no different than the values he grew up with as a Hindu. He said his “traditional household” taught him the importance of family as a foundation, emphasizing that “marriage is sacred” and “adultery is wrong.” His high school taught him the same values that he grew up with at home, including that “God is real,” “there’s one true God” and not to “take his name in vain.”

“These values, they’re familiar to me. They don’t belong to Hindus. But these values, they don’t belong to Christians either. They belong to God, actually,” Ramaswamy said. (RELATED: ‘Our Faith Is What Got Us Through It’: Vivek Ramaswamy Opens Up About The Loss Of His First Child)

Ramaswamy rhetorically asked whether the values he stated were “foreign” or “strange,” telling the audience that they might as well be in the United States. He cited television, movies, HR sessions, DEI training and universities as examples of where his values seem out of place.

“They may feel like foreign values, but I don’t think they’re foreign values to most Americans in this country,” Ramaswamy said. “I don’t think they’re foreign values to those of us who are in this room today.”