Exclusive: Vivek Ramaswamy Endorses Feenstra Challenger Kevin Virgil in Iowa GOP Congressional Primary
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Former 2024 Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is endorsing Army veteran and businessman Kevin Virgil, who is primarying Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) in Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District.
Ramaswamy endorsed Virgil in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News days after Feenstra helped kill Rep. Andy Biggs’s (R-AZ) key amendment to the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA) that would have required warrants for surveillance of Americans' communications.
“I’ve never followed the pack and I’m not going to start now. America’s out-of-control administrative state is rotten beyond repair. Every Republican who’s run for Congress talks a big game about reining in the federal bureaucracy. But they never do it,” Ramaswamy told Breitbart News.
“Kevin Virgil is a patriot with a spine. He’s an outsider. He knows reform is a myth. You have to shut it down. Kevin signed my American Truth Pledge and I’m proud to endorse him for IA-4,” he added.
Feenstra's seat was once held by former nine-term Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who backed Ramaswamy in the Republican presidential primary this year.
On Friday, Feenstra was one of 86 House Republicans who voted against the Biggs amendment to RISAA, “a bill that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA),” as Breitbart News Policy Reporter Sean Moran noted.
“Section 702 is a law that is meant to target foreign adversaries, but often surveils Americans’ private communications without a warrant,” Moran added.
Biggs' amendment to require warrants to surveil Americans' communications died by a 212-212 vote, meaning if Feenstra or just one other member of Congress had voted for it, it would have passed.
Virgil slammed Feenstsra and the rest of Iowa's Republican delegation on Saturday, saying they “sold out the American people yet again.”
Yesterday an amendment that would prohibit the gov't to spy on you without a warrant failed. By ONE vote. And yes, @RepFeenstra turned his back on the Bill of Rights once again.
The government’s justification for warrantless spying is ridiculous and I break it down here. pic.twitter.com/r7x52VFj1X
— Kevin Virgil (@kvirgil) April 13, 2024
“Feenstra doesn’t care about the Fourth Amendment, and he delivered for the federal government yesterday,” he added.
Virgil’s comments echo Ramaswamy’s posture toward Section 702, as the former presidential candidate slammed those he sees as hypocritical House Republicans who falsely proclaim they fight against the weaponization of government.
“Shame on Republicans who publicly rail against the 'weaponization of government,’ then quietly vote to reauthorize FISA 702 which enables the weaponization of government,” Ramaswamy wrote in a post on X.
Shame on Republicans who publicly rail against the “weaponization of government,” then quietly vote to reauthorize FISA 702 which enables the weaponization of government. Pathetically, they did it on a Friday afternoon to bury it in the news cycle. Mark my words: they’ll do the…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) April 12, 2024
“Pathetically, they did it on a Friday afternoon to bury it in the news cycle. Mark my words: they’ll do the exact same thing with the next round of Ukraine funding too,” he added.
Breitbart News reached out to Feenstra's office Tuesday morning, asking why he voted against the Biggs amendment and whether he supports Speaker Johnson–who faces serious threats of a motion to vacate–but did not receive a response by the afternoon.
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