Vivek Ramaswamy asked about his Hindu faith. He says

Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican contender in the US Presidential race, was questioned about his religion as he appeared on a CNN town hall in Iowa on Wednesday night. “I am Hindu,” Ramaswamy said as he responded to the audience member’s question.

Ramaswamy was asked to respond to the perception of those who believe that he “cannot be our President” because his religion “is not what our founding fathers based our country on”. To this, Ramaswamy said, “I respectfully disagree”.

“I would rather speak the truth and lose an election than to win by playing political snakes and ladders…I am going to tell you about my faith. I am Hindu. I went to Christian schools. And I can tell you with confidence that we share the same value set. I will tell you about my faith. My faith teaches me that God puts each of us here for a purpose, that we have a moral duty to realise that purpose,” Vivek Ramaswamy said.

“The God works through us in different ways but we are still equal because God resides in each of us,” he added.

He spoke about his “traditional upbringing” and said some core principles of his Hindu faith aligns with the “Judeo-Christian values”.

“We don’t choose who God works through. God chooses who God works through. So we get to the Old Testament, a little bit further along, we get to the Book of Isaiah. I don’t know if many of you are familiar with that one. God chose Cyrus, a Gentile all the way in Persia, to lead the Jewish people back to the Promised Land,” he said.

“And so yes, I believe God put us here for a purpose. My faith is what leads me on this journey to run for president,” Ramaswamy said.