Ramaswamy Almost Drops Boy As He Picks Him Up at Rally - Newsweek

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy nearly dropped a child at a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio, after briefly losing his grip while picking the boy up near the podium.

During his speech, footage from Right Side Broadcasting showed Ramaswamy noticing a young boy and girl sitting together in the crowd and asking if they are brother and sister. He points out their sign and reads it aloud to the crowd, noting that according to the sign, their father is currently deployed and describing the boy as a “proud military kid for Trump.”

After finding out the 10-year-old boy's name is Hunter, Ramaswamy invites him to come up on stage. As Hunter makes his way to the podium, the crowd cheers and chants his name. Once the child joins him near the podium, Ramaswamy says, “I’ll pick you up.”

As he lifted the boy to the microphone, Ramaswamy appeared to momentarily lose his grip, regaining control and adding: “Big guy!” Hunter then shouts “USA!” into the mic.

Ramaswamy then invites Hunter's sister up to the stage as well. He lowers the microphone for her, and she leads the audience in an "O-H! ... I-O!" chant.

The moment occurred at a rally where President Donald Trump also appeared as Republicans campaign ahead of the November elections. Ramaswamy, a businessman who unsuccessfully sought the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is running for governor against Democratic nominee Dr. Amy Acton, the former director of the Ohio Department of Health.

Newsweek has contacted Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign for comment via email.

Ramaswamy, whose parents immigrated from India, told the audience he was grateful for the opportunities his family received in the United States.

"I'm so grateful to this state and to this country for giving a kid like me opportunities that would not have been available to my family in any other country on planet earth,” he said.

He also praised Ohio and its residents, telling those at the rally: “The thing that makes Ohio extraordinary, it is not our beaches, it is not our mountains, it is you, the people of this state, you make this state, the greatest state.”

Trump, who spoke after Ramaswamy, urged Republicans to turn out in November to vote in the upcoming election.

Polling suggests Ramaswamy and Acton are fighting a competitive race, with the latest surveys generally showing Acton ahead but by different margins.

A Marist Poll conducted from September 24 to September 27 found Acton leading Ramaswamy by six percentage points, 50 percent to 44 percent. The survey interviewed 1,298 registered voters across Ohio and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. It was conducted a little more than five weeks before the November 3 election.

A USA Today/Suffolk University survey conducted from September 23 to September 27 among 500 likely Ohio voters gave Acton a nine-point lead, 50 percent to 41 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

A Bowling Green State University/YouGov poll, conducted online from September 1 to September 10, found Acton at 48 percent and Ramaswamy at 45 percent among 1,000 likely voters in Ohio. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.96 percentage points.

The polls were conducted against a difficult political backdrop for Republicans in Ohio. In the Bowling Green survey, six in 10 likely voters disapproved of President Donald Trump's job performance, while 65 percent said the national economy had worsened over the previous year. The economy was the most commonly cited concern among voters.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes and Cristina Diciu.