Vivek Ramaswamy leans into ‘racist’ 7-Eleven joke with ‘grab a Slurpee’ repartee

Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out from the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump on January 15, 2024 night. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential hopeful, has shown that he can take a joke, even if it involves his ethnicity and a convenience store.

Ramaswamy, who dropped out of the race after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses, recently endorsed Donald Trump, the frontrunner and incumbent president. This sparked rumours that Ramaswamy might be Trump’s running mate, with some supporters chanting “VP, VP” at a rally in New Hampshire.

The Babylon Bee, a conservative Christian satire website, poked fun at this scenario with a post claiming that Trump had offered Ramaswamy a “very important cabinet position”- running the White House 7-Eleven store. The meme piece quoted Trump as saying, “Under Biden, the White House doesn’t even have a 7-Eleven. Not good! We’re going to bring convenience back to the West Wing!”

The post said that Trump would work closely with Ramaswamy every day and that he would stop by for a Diet Coke and “one of those delicious warmed-up cheeseburgers under the hot light thingies”. It added that Ramaswamy had already started training for the job by watching videos on “how to fix the Slurpee machine” and “offer fast service ringing up Big Gulps”.

The piece joked that Trump had considered Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida and another rival candidate, for the role but he was “too short to see over the little hot dog display machine”.

Babylon Bee post sparked ‘racism’

The Babylon Bee post went viral, but not everyone found it funny. Some commentators, including conservatives, accused the Babylon Bee of “racism”. They pointed out that 7-Elevens have often been associated with Indian immigrants, with the most famous example being Apu from The Simpsons, a character that has been criticized for stereotyping Indian-Americans.

However, Ramaswamy did not seem to be offended by the article. A couple of days back he reposted a tweet on X (formerly Twitter) by Matt Walsh, a conservative commentator and host of The Matt Walsh Show, who defended the Babylon Bee and said that Ramaswamy was not in the slightest bit bothered by the joke. Today, the former presidential hopeful reposted eminent entrepreneur and author Patrick Bet-David’s 7-Eleven store visit tweet, captioning, “Thank you for coming & don’t forget to grab a Slurpee!”

It seems he was embracing the joke and inviting his followers to join him. David also commented on Ramaswamy’s post saying, “ this is why your following loves you” resonating the vibe.

The founder of Roivant Sciences has been described as a “self-made billionaire” and a “rising star” in the Republican Party. He is also the author of a book, Woke, Inc., which criticizes the influence of “woke” culture and corporate activism on American society. He has said that he plans to stay involved in politics and support Trump’s reelection campaign.

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