(José Niño, Headline USA) With Vivek Ramaswamy running as the Republican candidate for Ohio’s gubernatorial seat, new questions have emerged about his citizenship status.
In the last few days, a video has made the rounds across social media where Ramaswamy admitted that both of his parents were not immigrants, thereby making him a recipient of birthright citizenship.
Vivek Ramaswamy admits that he’s an anchor baby.
pic.twitter.com/pMpSpEk9nF— Kacee Allen (@KaceeRAllen) March 3, 2025
The interview in question was with former NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns, which took place on Sept. 21, 2023 during Ramaswamy’s failed presidential run.
On the campaign trail, Ramaswamy was vocal about ending birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal aliens. Burns looked to press Ramaswamy on his citizenship status to expose his purported hypocrisy on the issue.
After much probing, Ramaswamy revealed that his father, V. Ganapathy Ramaswamy, entered the United States legally as an immigrant from India. The elder Ramaswamy worked as an engineer and patent lawyer for General Electric. His father never tried to obtain U.S. citizenship.
When he was about his mother’s citizenship status, Ramaswamy revealed that Geetha Ramaswamy took her citizenship test after he was born. Ramaswamy stressed that his mother followed “the legal process.”
Burns subsequently inquired, “So you gained citizenship through birthright then?” Ramaswamy agreed but shifted the conversation to make it about his plan to “revive a vision of citizenship” where birthright citizenship should only apply to children “of parents who are here [United States]. Legally.”
Although Ramaswamy’s parents are foreigners, him being born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1985, makes him a U.S. citizen by birth under the current interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
Ramaswamy announced on Feb. 24 his candidacy for Ohio governor.
Ramaswamy’s candidacy has faced increased scrutiny by factions of the populist Right who have soured on Ramaswamy after comments he made last December criticizing American culture.
At the time, there were heated debates about American immigration, namely, the H1B visa system. DOGE leader Elon Musk is a major proponent of the program and believes it is useful for addressing alleged labor shortages.
The failed presidential candidate also chimed in the discussion.
“The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over ‘native’ Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation),” Ramaswamy said.
The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024
“A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture,” continued. “Tough questions demand tough answers & if we’re really serious about fixing the problem, we have to confront the TRUTH: Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer).”
Ramaswamy drew popular culture parallels to further reinforce his point:
“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers. A culture that venerates Cory from “Boy Meets World,” or Zach & Slater over Screech in “Saved by the Bell,” or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in “Family Matters,” will not produce the best engineers.”
Various political pundits such as Auron MacIntyre took exception to Ramaswamy’s message, declaring, “Turns out the “waste” that DOGE wanted to cut from America was Americans.”
Turns out the "waste" that DOGE wanted to cut from America was Americans
— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) December 26, 2024
Ramaswamy has taken conventional stances on halting illegal immigration. However, it remains to be seen where he officially stands on the issue of mass, legal immigration.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
