LAS VEGAS — Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy told the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership conference Monday that rising antisemitism is not only an assault on Jews but an attack on the American ideas of success, meritocracy and capitalism.
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“Why am I here at the Republican Jewish Coalition talking to you about success? It is because you represent the most successful demographic group in America, and the antisemitism that is now spreading across our country is not just an attack on Jewish people; it is an attack on success,” Ramaswamy said. “It is an attack on the idea of success. It is an attack on the idea of meritocracy. It is an attack on the idea of capitalism. It is an attack on the very idea of America itself.”
Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, said the current “epidemic” of antisemitism is driven primarily by “envy of Jewish achievement.”
“It is the spread of envy, and as much as it causes psychological and sadly even physical harm to the Jewish community, it causes even more psychological harm to those who harbor it,” he said. Those who harbor antisemitism, he added, “reject a fundamental truth that America was built on.”
He urged Americans to lift up successful Jews and other high-achieving citizens rather than villainize them, and said opposing antisemitism is “about standing up for America.”
The remarks came at the RJC summit at the Venetian Resort, where Republican officials and conservative figures gathered to discuss U.S.-Israel relations, midterm elections and antisemitism on both the left and the right. Vice President JD Vance was scheduled to address the conference later Monday.
Ramaswamy is the Republican nominee in a competitive Ohio governor’s race against Democrat Amy Acton, the former state health director.