Vivek Ramaswamy at Ground Zero defends his controversial 9/11 comments

NEW YORK — While visiting the Sept. 11. memorial Monday in Lower Manhattan, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he stands by the comments he had made regarding the terrorist attacks in a recent interview.

“So today’s not the day to talk about the comments I made, which I stand by. But it is important to have a government that tells the truth to its people, that people can trust, and trust its people back,” he said while attending the Fire Department of New York’s pipe and drum tribute at Station 10. 

The 38-year-old entrepreneur had come under fire for comments he made about the attacks during an interview with The Atlantic published last month implying that “federal agents” were on the planes during the attacks.

“I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers,” Ramaswamy told reporter John Hendrickson. “Maybe the answer is zero. It probably is zero for all I know, right? I have no reason to think it was anything other than zero. But if we’re doing a comprehensive assessment of what happened on 9/11, we have a 9/11 commission, absolutely that should be an answer the public knows the answer to.” 

Pressed on his comments by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Ramaswamy said he was taken out of context. The Atlantic later released the full audio tape and transcript showing that he was accurately quoted. 

Monday night Ramaswamy was asked how he came to those thoughts and answered, “It’s not a thought I came to — it’s a hard fact. It’s a hard fact from declassified documents two years ago.” 

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Following the release of the initial article, Ramaswamy issued a Tweet that implied the U.S. covered up the involvement of an alleged Saudi intelligence official in the activities of two hijackers in the run-up to the attacks. His campaign confirmed the documents he was referring to at the memorial were in reference to his post. 

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In 2021, the FBI closed its investigation into three Saudi nationals suspected of helping two hijackers prior to the attacks, according to a previously classified document released by the Justice Department. 

The GOP candidate has faced criticism from Republican rivals, including former Vice President Mike Pence and most recently, former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd. Said Hurd: “It spits in the face of the thousands of lives that we lost on that day and subsequently.” 

Ramaswamy and his wife, Apoorva, visited the reflecting pools at Ground Zero on Monday before leaving the area. He also marked his visit to the memorial in a post on “X,” saying “On September 11, 2001, we were all Americans. Now 22 years later, we still are. Honored to be with the bravest & finest among us at the 9/11 Memorial tonight.”