Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy suggested on Friday that the Capitol riot was caused by censorship and mandates related to the coronavirus pandemic.
"You want to know what caused January 6th is pervasive censorship in this country," Ramaswamy told moderator Tucker Carlson. "You tell people in this country they cannot speak, that is when they scream. You tell people they cannot scream. That is when they tear things down."
Ramaswamy was asked about the riot during the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, and pointed fingers at a variety of factors, including Covid vaccine mandates and lockdowns linked to the pandemic, without mentioning GOP primary front-runner former President Donald Trump, whose conduct leading up to and on the day of the riot has been the focus of one of special counsel Jack Smith's probes.
Ramaswamy, a vocal supporter of the former president, has suggested that if elected he would pardon Trump who has been indicted twice. He has demanded other GOP candidates make a similar pledge.
The Republican businessman on Friday also repeatedly invoked what he called "a cycle of censorship" around a story about Hunter Biden, which included accusations that he used his father's influence to enrich himself with business deals in Ukraine and China, as a cause for Jan. 6.
The GOP-led House Oversight Committee has repeatedly released documents that do not substantiate those accusations, though some Republicans have continued to promote the allegations.