Vivek Ramaswamy is a Yale University-educated biotech entrepreneur and published author. In a few months' time, the 37-year-old Ohio resident might add "presidential candidate" to his resume.
In the meantime, Ramaswamy has been busy preaching his everyday message to the American public: Value free speech and open debates, abhor censorship, and succeed in life through a meritocracy-based system instead of being judged by race or status.
"Wouldn't it be great if the people who are elected to run the government ... were actually running the government?" Ramaswamy asked Newsmax on Thursday evening, while appearing on "Spicer & Co." with hosts Sean Spicer and Lyndsay Keith.
DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is returned! Oppose censorship – sign The Petition – Click Here
Ramaswamy has similarly strong opinions about AT&T's recent decision to remove Newsmax from DirecTV's channel lineup.
On Wednesday, Ramaswamy tweeted: "DirecTV's cancellation of @NEWSMAX is appalling & reveals the real anticompetitive problem today: an oligopoly of ideas. It's not a standard product cartel. It's an *ideological cartel* that punishes any defectors who espouse a different view. Crony capitalism fuels this problem."
During his Newsmax interview, Ramaswamy doubled down on that anti-censorship sentiment.
DirecTV's purging of Newsmax is "deeply concerning to citizens across the country. I didn't write that because I love Newsmax. I also love this country, and we have an ideological cartel here," said Ramaswamy.
"It's not an old-school form of monopoly, where they would jack up the price" of a good or service, said Ramaswamy.
Rather, "it's an ideological cartel that punishes the defector. ... It's a monopoly on ideas; and I think that's the most dangerous kind of monopoly — especially when [companies are] working hand in glove to censor content that the government itself disfavors," continued Ramaswamy, author of "Woke Inc: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam."
This form of censorship "would have George Washington and ["1984" author] George Orwell doing backflips in their graves. And I actually applaud Newsmax for standing up with a spine," said Ramaswamy, while adding that limiting free speech cuts to the heart "of what it means to live in a free society."
And when "it comes to fighting the aristocracy ... I think things are going to change, if we get the right leaders in charge," added Ramaswamy.
Actions to Take Now
1. DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is back on air!
2. Call your congressman or senator at 202-224-3121 and demand they stop AT&T/DirecTV's censorship of NEWSMAX — ask them to give you a date on the hearings!
3. Go to our online petition and get more info: iWantNewsmax.com.