Vivek Ramaswamy slammed for going barefoot inside his own house: ‘Third world uncle’

Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has come under criticism from a section of the internet for going barefoot inside his own home. The 39-year-old, who is currently running for governor of Ohio, was seen shoeless during an old interview, snippets of which have recently resurfaced online.

The picture of Vivek Ramaswamy sitting barefoot inside his own house has sparked a wave of negative reactions online, with much of the backlash having racist overtones. Some people called him “anti-American” and “uncivilised” as they trolled his decision to not wear shoes during the interview.

The backlash

“Vivek will never be governor of Ohio. This is unacceptable for America,” wrote one X user while sharing a screenshot from the interview.

“Not even eccentric billionaire behavior, just straight up third-world uncle energy,” another said.

“Vivek lectures us about education while barefoot. Uncivilised,” a user said, referring to the Indian-American entrepreneur’s controversial comments saying America values mediocrity and can therefore not produce world-class engineers.

Many critical comments were racist, suggesting that his Indian roots made him unfit to hold a position of power in the United States. “Imagine the smell,” wrote one X user while responding to his bare feet pic.

The support

However, Ramaswamy also found support from people who noted that not wearing shoes inside the house is common in many cultures, including Hawaii and India.

Commentator Ian Miles Cheong defended the entrepreneur and Republican. “The dumbest argument I’ve heard against Vivek is that going barefoot in your own house is anti-American. I guess too many people grew up on sitcoms where they wear their shoes in bed,” he wrote on X.

“Actually, this is fully acceptable in America. You know why? Because freedom, that's why. If you think he can't be barefoot in his OWN house, you need to go touch grass,” another said.

On Reddit, too, many desis spoke out in support of the Republican while criticising his policies. “God, Vivek is insufferable and I’ll never vote for him. But these Goras have no place to judge him here,” a Reddit user opined.