Vivek Becomes Visibly Flustered As Rivals Pounce On Chinese Business Ties

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy became visibly flustered as his primary opponent South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott pounced on his Chinese business ties at Wednesday’s debate.

Scott attacked Ramaswamy for saying during the previous debate that all the candidates on the stage besides him were “bought and paid for.” He accused Ramaswamy of having been “in business with the Chinese Communist Party” and of being funded by the same Chinese business associates who partnered with Hunter Biden.

“That’s nonsense,” Ramaswamy said.

“It’s not nonsense,” Scott replied.

“I want to response, these are good people who are tainted by a broken system and it’s not the fault of anybody who’s involved,” Ramaswamy said.

“Bottom line, you were bought and paid for,” Scott interjected.

“Excuse me, excuse me, thank you for interrupting while I’m speaking,” Ramaswamy said.

“Well, you said bought and paid for,” Scott added.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chimed in during the heated exchange to call on the candidates to focus on the issues that matter and hold President Joe Biden accountable. (RELATED: Ramaswamy Says His Debate Performance ‘Exceeded Even My Own Expectations) 

“If I may,” Ramaswamy said as DeSantis and Scott both spoke. “If I may, I agree with Ron DeSantis on China. When every other CEO expanded into the Chinese market, you know what I did with my first company? We opened the subsidiary in China. But you know what I did that was different than every other company? We got the hell out of there and I when I started my next company, Strive—”

“2023, 2023,” Scott interrupted.

“When I started my next company Strive to compete against BlackRock—excuse me,” Ramaswamy said.

“No, no,” Scott replied.

Ramaswamy added he vowed never to do business in China again when he began his next company. As the moderators tried to move on, Ramaswamy still continued to finish his statement which led to another heated argument with Scott.

“I want to be respectful,” Ramaswamy said.

“But you weren’t respectful in the last debate,” Scott pushed back.

“But I do not believe, we are sitting here in the Reagan Library,” Ramaswamy said.

“Yes,” Scott began to interrupt.

“In honor of Ronald Reagan, if I may, and Tim, from one admirer of Ronald Reagan to another, from one admirer of Reagan to another, we cannot sit here and violate Reagan’s 11th commandment,” Ramaswamy said. “Let’s have a policy debate.”