Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told the hosts of Fox and Friends Weekend that he didn’t come out of the birth canal “spouting Republican talking points,” after questions about his past views came up, including in a New York Times article.

In a Saturday interview, co-host Pete Hegseth asked Ramaswamy how he would respond to voters asking questions about his past views. On the right, supporters of his rival candidates including Donald Trump — who has already praised Ramaswamy more than once — have attacked the businessman for comments from his past, his Soros Fellowship, and what co-host Will Cain described as his “transformation” in politics.

Hegseth noted the “big burst of scrutiny” following Ramaswamy’s hated/loved performance at the Republican debate, and brought up a New York Times article co-written by Maggie Haberman in asking, “What’s your answer to voters who say, who’s the Vivek today versus the Vivek of things we might see from the past?”

Ramaswamy claimed the media was digging up very old comments, and said that of course his views have changed over the years.

“One that they dug up this week is at the age of 18. Yes I was asking Al Sharpton a question on MSNBC, and I didn’t come out of the birth canal spouting Republican talking points. That’s true,” he said. “I came to my views based on my experiences.”

He talked about his experiences as CEO and how they shaped his current worldview, and Cain responded by asking when, exactly, Ramaswamy made “that transition” in “political ideology.”

After Ramaswamy’s response, Rachel Campos-Duffy made some big name comparisons.

“Well you wouldn’t be the first Republican candidate for president, or president who was a Democrat or not a Republican for many years before,” she said. “So that would be Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump himself. So…”

HEGSETH: You have had a big burst of scrutiny following that debate performance and the media coming after them. We’ve mentioned The New York Times. In that Times piece recently, they said of Vivek Ramaswamy “in clashes with the news media and his rivals, the Republican upstart has retreated from past comments,” and they say “lied about on the record statements.” So, what do, how are you managing, everyone’s diving into what you’ve said in the past, positions you may have had in the past. And things change as you get older. But, what’s your answer to voters who say, who’s the Vivek today versus the Vivek of things we might see from the past?

RAMASWAMY: Well, one that they dug up this week is at the age of 18. Yes I was asking Al Sharpton a question on MSNBC, and I didn’t come out of the birth canal spouting Republican talking points. That’s true. I came to my views based on my experiences. I was a CEO who, like so many CEOs, was browbeaten into potentially making statements on behalf of Black Lives Matter after George Floyd died among CEOs in America. I was unique in saying that I refused to do it. To say that businesses should stay out of politics, should focus on profits. That ultimately led me to a journey that’s caused me to arrive at the pro-American views that I espouse today. And that’s why my convictions are deeper than a standard politician who will recite, let’s say, the slogans provided in a binder by their super PAC. That’s not me, but I’m an independent patriot who speaks the truth. And I think that that’s why I’ve been so clear and my convictions are so strong. I don’t say things the way a standard politician does, but I think that’s why we’re actually having success in this race.

CAIN: There’s no doubt. You state these principles clearly, Vivek. But I do think the question is, and it’s for many on the right, Vivek, is when did you make that transition, to Pete’s point? I’ve been to your website where you address many of these issues. I don’t know whether or not they’re regarding masks or climate change or whatever it may be, Vivek. There does seem to be a transition in your political ideology and that makes people question, Is it legitimate or is it convenient? So when did this transformation take place?

RAMASWAMY: Well, I think you all have known this through my journey. It started around 2020. I mean, I was apolitical before 2020. There were years, many people pointed out in much of my twenties, I didn’t vote. That’s accurate. I was disillusioned by partisan politics. I voted Libertarian in my first election, and I sat it out for McCain and Obama and even Romney and Obama. But I actually came to this in 2020 when, as I said, I was a biotech CEO. What we saw with the Black Lives Matter protests across this country. That was also the year that I brought my first son into this world. That’s what gives me a deeper conviction. I don’t think of myself as a standard political partisan.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: Yeah.

RAMASWAMY: I think of myself as standing for this pro-American agenda. And when your experiences bring you to your views, you hold them that much more strongly. And over the last three years, there has been no more powerful advocate in this country against woke capitalism, against the toxic ESG agenda, and also somebody who’s not just writing books about it, but doing something about it.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: Yeah.

[00: I started a company called Strive, which is the leading competitor of BlackRock. So look to my actions and that’ll tell you where I’m at.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: Well, you wouldn’t be the first Republican candidate for president, or president who was a Democrat or not a Republican for many years before. So that would be Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump himself. So…

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

The post Ramaswamy Explains To Fox Hosts He Didn’t Become a Republican in ‘The Birth Canal’ But Rather Sometime Later first appeared on Mediaite.

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