Vivek the “libertarian” gets booed offstage at… Young Americans for Liberty convention

So, this happened… Vivek Ramaswamy, supposed “libertarian,” who seems to be one of a handful of politicians who people genuinely, genuinely hate the more they see and hear of him, got booed at the …Young Americans for Liberty convention.

For those who don’t know, Young Americans for Liberty is the Ron Paul youth activism group that spun out of his 2008 presidential campaign. So this is the kind of crowd where basically anyone with more than a single libertarian bone in their body should find a friendly audience and be able to make it through a speech without problems. He’s basically Elizabeth Warren to their Seven Sisters progressive feminist student group.

However, despite what should have been an uber-friendly setup, Vivek lasted only a full 14 minutes out of the originally-scheduled 30 and got heckled and booed offstage.

As commentator and paleoconish Republican Ryan Girdusky put it, “this is at a YAL convention nonetheless. He should have that crowd in the palm of his hand.”

Well… yes.

In addition to defending Israel (always popular with the Ron Paul people), he also talked about a “real divide” in America between “winners and whiners.” He also asked the audience, “Are you in the camp of people in this country who want to win? Or are you in the camp of people who want to whine?”

(Zero points to Vivek for having failed to notice in advance that 18-to-thirty year-olds in Generation Z generally want to whine about literally everything).

He also pulled a “I’m very important and you’re not” performative shutdown effort, yelling at one critic, “You want to give a speech…? Well, you can get on when they give you a slot, alright? So, until they do, can sit down.”

Sick burn, dude. Needless to say, it did not work.

Vivek was also quoted as saying,“And the truth of the matter is, you know, no matter what happens in whichever direction we go, people in my generation have already made it. We’re gonna be fine. It’s gonna be your generation…that pays the price.”

Real “I feel your pain” stuff here. This guy displayed all of the emotional warmth of an ice cold cannibalistic Yeti that is coming to eat you and your entire family. Some people say he’s like a Republican Obama, but frankly, Obama’s “bittergate” comments look soft and fuzzy compared to this nonsense.

Full video here.

For some time now, Vivek has been being accused of massive insensitivity to young Americans who are worried about their future prospects in an age of AI, America having seen a wave of immigration from India, outsourcing, etc., etc. Ramaswamy has repeatedly gotten himself in trouble by seeming to promote Indian high-skilled immigration and the children of Indian immigrants (like himself) as inherently more likely to succeed. He also seems to have failed to note that he’s running in Ohio and not, say, Utah, where this kind of outlook might be a little more salable.

As X user @WeWillBeFree24 put it: 

[h]ear for yourself the revisionist history he has and still is selling Ohioans. How you, notably the younger generations, should accept your own demise as Americans while foreigners steal your wealth. He doubles down on devaluing heritage Americans, calling it tribalism.

The Washington Examiner’s very own resident Ron Paul-friendly, paleocon editor Jim Antle offered this rather concise summary of Vivek and these various challenges:

He’s always had his quirks and even at his best was an acquired taste, but he has really gotten worse at this as time has gone on rather than better. It’s sort of mind-boggling.

Acquired taste indeed. Apparently, he’s now caused @WeWillBeFree24 to back Amy Acton over Vivek for governor.

General “yikes” energy, all around.