Vivek Ramaswamy is Against Blacklisting Harvard Students Who Signed Controversial Anti-Israel Letter: "Simple Fools"

Recently, Vivek Ramaswamy took to Twitter to comment on Harvard student groups that signed a controversial letter holding the 'Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence' following an attack by Hamas that killed over 1,400 Israelis earlier this month. "The Harvard student groups who co-signed the anti-Israel letter are simple fools," Ramaswamy wrote on Twitter. "But it's not productive for companies to blacklist kids for being members of student groups that make dumb political statements on campus." He elaborated further, "It's not great now if companies refuse to hire kids who were part of student groups that once adopted the wrong view on Israel. This isn't a legal point, it's a cultural point. I say this as someone who vehemently disagrees with those Harvard student groups."

Ramaswamy also argued against the 'left-wing cancel culture' that has led to the 'persecution of people who wore red hats in support of former President Donald Trump,' as per Business Insider. Despite vehemently disagreeing with the views expressed by students on Harvard's campus, Ramaswamy opposed such blacklisting tactics, arguing college should be a place where students can freely 'experiment with ideas' without permanent professional repercussions after graduation. He also called for rejecting the growing influence of 'cancel culture' on both the left and right. The presidential hopeful further clarified on X, "I’ve been as vocal as anyone in criticizing left-wing cancel culture (see my first book “Woke, Inc.”), but it’s bad no matter who practices it." 

The Republican candidate then pivoted back to the ongoing debates on college campuses, stating that individuals calling for blacklisting Harvard students "are responding from a place of understandable hurt. [B]ut I'm confident that in the fullness of time, they will agree with me on the wisdom of avoiding these cancel-culture tactics."

Having said that, it's worth noting that Ramaswamy's nuanced position stands in stark contrast to billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, a Harvard alum who has previously praised the young GOP candidate but drew a hard line when it comes to blacklisting some Harvard students. Last week, Ackman wrote on Twitter: "I have been asked by a number of CEOs if Harvard would release a list of the members of each of the Harvard organizations that have issued the letter assigning sole responsibility for Hamas' heinous acts to Israel, so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members."

Ackman added, "If, in fact, their members support the letter they have released, the names of the signatories should be made public so their views are publicly known." A billboard truck even drove around Harvard's campus, identifying alleged members of the pro-Palestinian groups. However, some student groups have since distanced themselves from the controversial letter, as per The Harvard Crimson, the university's student newspaper.