Vivek Ramaswamy Says He Quit Social Media After Online Attacks

Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he has quit Instagram and X after being subjected to racist attacks related to his Indian heritage, according to a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Monday.

Ramaswamy wrote that he made leaving social media his New Year’s resolution for 2026 after seeing what he described as a surge of racial slurs and abuse online. He contrasted his experience on social media with his interactions during in-person campaigning across Ohio.

“In 2025 I saw a spate of shocking racial slurs and worse on social media,” Ramaswamy wrote, adding that during visits to all 88 Ohio counties he did not encounter a single bigoted remark from voters in face-to-face interactions.

Ramaswamy previously detailed similar experiences in a December 17 New York Times op-ed, where he said his social media feeds were “littered with hundreds of slurs” and calls to deport him.

Acknowledging the difficulty of staying off social platforms, Ramaswamy said his social media hiatus may not be permanent. “If my current New Year’s resolution resembles past ones, I might be back to scrolling X by March,” he wrote, while encouraging fellow Republicans to consider stepping away from social media as well.

White nationalist Nick Fuentes has repeatedly attacked Ramaswamy over his heritage and claimed responsibility for Ramaswamy’s departure from social media in a post on X on Monday.

Ramaswamy also cited a December report by the Network Contagion Research Institute, produced in partnership with Rutgers University’s Social Perception Lab, which found that engagement with Fuentes’ X account showed patterns that were “unusually fast, unusually concentrated and unusually foreign in origin.” Ramaswamy referenced the findings as part of his broader argument about the distortion of political discourse online.

Ramaswamy’s decision to step away from social media followed controversy surrounding a speech he delivered at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, where he criticized the concept of “Heritage Americans” and argued that the idea that some citizens are more American than others was “lunacy.” The remarks drew backlash from some conservatives and online activists. The episode came roughly a year after earlier comments Ramaswamy made on X, formerly Twitter, in which he argued that American workers were being displaced by H-1B visa holders because U.S. culture did not sufficiently value work ethic, instead elevating athletes and social popularity over academic achievement. Those past remarks resurfaced amid the renewed debate over his views on identity, immigration, and meritocracy.

The episode also carried an element of irony. Following Ramaswamy’s AmericaFest remarks, writer Richard Hanania praised him on X, calling it “what political courage looks like in 2025” and arguing that Ramaswamy was “going to war against the comments section of [his] own side.” Ramaswamy responded, “If you’re scared of your comments section, you’re not fit to lead.” The exchange drew renewed attention given Ramaswamy’s decision weeks later to step away from social media platforms altogether.

Ramaswamy has received endorsements in his gubernatorial campaign from President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk in February 2025. The Ohio Republican Party formally endorsed him in May 2025.

Originally expected to work alongside Musk in leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, Ramaswamy was ousted and shifted focus to the Ohio governor’s race as Trump began his second term. According to the RealClearPolling average, he currently holds a narrow lead over his Democratic opponent, former Ohio Department of Health director Amy Acton.

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