Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former Vice President Mike Pence both trolled biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy over his ties to business in China during the second GOP debate.
“When we have the conversation about the things that are happening on this stage, we think about the fact that Vivek just said that we were all good people — and I appreciate that because last debate he said we were all bought and paid for,” Scott said, launching a surprise broadside against his opponent.
“And I thought about that for a little while, and said, you know, I can’t imagine how you could say that, knowing that you were just in business with the Chinese Communist Party, and the same people that funded Hunter Biden millions of dollars was a partner of yours as well,” the South Carolina senator added.
“Nonsense,” Ramaswamy interjected.
Scott’s remarks come as biopharmaceutical company Sinovant Sciences was formed between Ramaswamy’s Roivant Sciences and a state-owned Chinese investment company’s private equity firm, according to The Washington Post.
“These are good people who are tainted by a broken system,” Ramaswamy shot back at Scott.
Pence also took a jab at Ramaswamy later during the debate, saying: “I’m glad Vivek pulled out of his business deal in 2018 in China. That must have been about the time he decided to start voting in presidential elections.”
Pence and Scott’s remarks come after Ramaswamy saw a bump in polling following his rambunctious performance in the first GOP debate in Milwaukee. Both Pence and Scott have been polling in the single digits in most state and national polls.