Vivek Ramaswamy says he found "some common ground" with a protester who interrupted the Republican presidential candidate this week during a campaign event.
Ramaswamy, in an interview with Fox News Digital, emphasized that he invited the protester — who was being escorted out of his event in Iowa after shouting during the candidate's remarks — to return and engage with him on the issues of abortion and rape. "I believe we’ve got to practice what we preach. Free speech and open debate is the way forward. That is the American way," Ramaswamy said.
In a moment that went viral on social media, Kayla Crist of Stanwood, Iowa, interrupted Ramaswamy on Monday evening as she began shouting "protect our women" and "Republicans are raping people." That apparently prompted a small group of people at the event to try and escort Crist toward the exit.
However, Ramaswamy, a multimillionaire entrepreneur, best-selling author, conservative commentator and culture wars crusader, asked Crist to come back, saying "I want to give her a chance to speak."
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"You can say something to me, it's OK. Come back," he added.
While wiping tears from her eyes, Crist confirmed she wanted to ask the candidate a question. As she approached Ramaswamy, she said that if she was impregnated by a rapist, she would not have their baby. "It’s my choice, it’s my body," she said.
The woman then tearfully recounted her experience of having little support as a single mother.
"I’ve already raised my kids that somebody implanted in me and doesn’t take care of. The system does nothing for the single mother. There’s no child support, and nobody goes after them. I raised my child by myself," she said. She went on to say her child was successful and happy, and she did not want to be attacked for being a single mother.
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Ramaswamy thanked Crist and commended her for doing "one of the most important things" in raising children in this world. "I want to say: You’re doing one of the most important things, being a mother raising her children in this world," he said. Even if we have our disagreements, I want to say thank you. And part of what it means to live in this country is we have free speech. We get to speak our minds openly even if we all don’t agree."
Journalist Link Lauren recorded the encounter and shared on Twitter. As of Wednesday morning, the video had garnered over 3 million views.
Arriving in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Ramaswamy told Fox News that "even though she and I disagreed on say abortion policy, she still should have a right to express herself. And as a free speech absolutist myself, that’s a big part of what I like to do — practice what I preach."
Ramaswamy argued that he and Crist did find some common ground.
"She started with a position that appeared to be my body, my choice, referring to the pro-choice position. But the reality was by the end of it, she was actually talking more about family care and childcare than she was even about abortion, which I thought was really interesting," he said. "She’s a mother who brought a kid into this world. We need more of that, not less. And I think we were able to find a rare moment of unity across divide, that’s supposedly the one issue that’s the third rail for national unity, and even then, I think we were able to find some common ground, and a moment of — I think it was really a sentimental moment that we had in Iowa."
However, Ramaswamy also said that when it comes to the contentious issue of abortion, he has "been very clear" that he’s "unapologetically pro-life."
"I do believe that unborn life is life. And I don’t believe that the right path forward for us is to compromise on our principles. I think the right path forward is for us to be uncompromising about the principles that we believe in while also finding ways to address the concerns that we can address without compromising," he elaborated.
Ramaswamy added that "I am pro-life, and I believe in walking the walk when it comes to being pro-life as well."
One year after a blockbuster ruling by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned the nearly half century old Roe v. Wade, sending the abortion issue back to the states, Ramaswamy also noted that "I have been very clear that this is an issue for the states."
Before flying to New Hampshire on Tuesday, Ramaswamy stopped by the Iowa state capital in Des Moines, ahead of a special session of the GOP dominated state legislature, which passed a controversial six-week abortion ban.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds is expected to sign the bill into law on Friday.
Ramaswamy, a first-time candidate, stands at 5% support in the latest Fox News national poll in the GOP presidential nomination race.
Fox News' Kristine Parks contributed to this story
