Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign said it would no longer facilitate access between the Washington Free Beacon and the candidate after the Free Beacon reported that Ramaswamy appeared on a podcast hosted by an anti-Semitic YouTuber on Tuesday.
The campaign’s decision comes after the Free Beacon reported on anti-Semitic comments, including the assertion that both the left and right push for "speech censorship on behalf of big Jewish power," made by social media influencer Albert Faleski, also known as "An0maly," who interviewed Ramaswamy this week.
Ramaswamy spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said on Tuesday that the Free Beacon acted in "bad faith" by highlighting Faleski’s comments in the context of Ramaswamy’s appearance on the show, adding that the campaign plans to cut off the Free Beacon’s access.
Ramaswamy appeared on Faleski’s show because he will talk to any media outlet, even controversial ones, she said, adding that Ramaswamy wasn’t aware of Faleski’s anti-Semitic comments before the interview, but might have appeared on the show even if he was aware because of the campaign’s open media policy.
This open media policy apparently doesn’t extend to the Free Beacon.
Faleski, who is also a critic of pharmaceutical companies, pressed Ramaswamy about his biotech background, his work in China, and his support for the COVID-19 vaccine. During the 40-minute interview, the two did not discuss Faleski's views on Jews or Israel.
Faleski was recently named "Antisemite of the Week" by StopAntisemitism.com. He regularly accuses the Republican Party on Twitter of selling out to "Zionists" and "Jewish donors."
"Zionists have the Republican Party by the nuts & they pass anti-American pass speech laws for their donors/Israel because that's who controls them," he wrote last November.
In a 2020 post, Faleski wrote, "What do Epstein, Weinstein & 85% of the writers, producers & media execs making the most subversive programming have in common? I'll give you a hint, Trump & Republicans pass speech orders trying to stop you from saying the truth about it."
Faleski also objects to the U.S. government's definition of anti-Semitism.
"Have you ever read the State Department's 'Defining Anti-Semitism' page?" he wrote last year. "They say it's hate speech to say Jews killed Jesus, have more loyalty to Israel than other countries & saying they control large sectors of society."
Faleski has made anti-Jewish statements on his YouTube show, as well.
"People say, well, An0maly, you must be an anti-Semite," he said in a YouTube video two years ago. "No, Zionism by creation is ‘Israel First,’ the Jewish, you know, priority of what these powerful Jewish people want, and America second."
He also criticized the late legendary news reporter Mike Wallace and his son, CNN host Chris Wallace, arguing that their "ethnicity, Jewish, has more power, most media companies owned. You can’t even say that, that’s an anti-Semitism hate speech crime now."
"You know a lot of Democrats, fifty percent of their funding comes from his ethnicity, so if I were to say, ‘Hey, Mike Wallace, you should condemn Jewish supremacy, I would be kicked off of every social media."
Faleski also claimed that the "left and right wing both push, they’re pushing for speech censorship on behalf of big Jewish power."