Ramaswamy on Haley’s ‘scum’ barb: ‘Startling lack of self-awareness’

Vivek Ramaswamy doubled down on his attack on his fellow GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley and her daughter after Wednesday’s debate, accusing the former UN ambassador of virtue signaling against the video-sharing app TikTok.

Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur who promised to be “unhinged” on the stage, lobbed attacks at everyone from his opponents to the Republican National Committee to the NBC debate moderators. But he perhaps received the most attention when he brought up Haley’s adult daughter’s TikTok use, which drew a heated response from Haley herself. She called him “scum.”

“If she talks about TikTok sanctimoniously on stage without mentioning her own adult family members of the next generation are on it, we are not fixing the problem,” Ramaswamy told CNN’s Dana Bash in a post-debate interview late Wednesday night. “The error,” he said, is “somebody lecturing the rest of the country about the perils of it while failing to set an example of leadership a little closer to home.”

Ramaswamy said Haley showed a “startling lack of awareness” by discussing the app “sanctimoniously” on stage and not acknowledging that the GOP could use the platform to reach younger voters and expand its appeal.

“It's not a sin to be on TikTok,” he said. “It's a generational divide. Most young people who I meet are.”

Haley, in an interview on Fox News Thursday, defended her “scum” quip, saying that she tempered her comments during the debate.

“That was showing a lot of restraint, that's all I'll say,” she said. “It was showing a lot of restraint.”

On Thursday morning, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defended Haley’s family during an interview on Fox News, saying: "I think the kids are out of bounds. I didn't think that was an appropriate thing to do." Haley and DeSantis are viewed as the strongest contenders against former President Donald Trump, though he continues to lead by wide margins.

TikTok, a Chinese-owned platform, has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and others who warn that the app poses a national security threat because the Chinese government can take data from American users.

Vivek’s campaign joined the platform in September, a move that Haley has criticized.

Jessica Piper contributed to this report.