Online conservative backlash over Vivek Ramaswamy’s plans to headline an IT industry event last week caused Ramaswamy to pull out of the event days before it was set to begin.
The episode shows how Ramaswamy, a high-profile, Trump-endorsed Republican running for governor of Ohio next year, continues to face detractors within elements of the online right – and offers an instance of him responding to their concerns.
Online backlash quickly spirals
The mini-controversy began last Monday, Dec. 1, when conservatives on X, the social media platform, noticed that Ramaswamy was billed as a keynote speaker for the ITServe Alliance’s Synergy 2025 conference set to be held in Puerto Rico a few days later.
Critics pointed to ITServe Alliance’s advocacy opposing restrictions on H1-B visas, which allow companies to hire the specialized foreign workers commonly found in the tech industry. Ramaswamy, a tech entrepreneur, previously has called for the H1-B visa system to be reformed. But he has also angered some hard-right activists by arguing that cultural and educational deficiencies in the U.S. – and not just immigration policies or cost-cutting measures – drive companies to look overseas for talent.
One user on X unearthed a video depicting a speaker at a past ITServe Alliance event criticizing and ridiculing President Donald Trump as anti-immigrant. The woman in the video, Sheela Murthy, said in a statement issued through her law firm that the clip was from a speech she gave on immigration law and policies “almost a decade ago” and took her remarks out of context. It still helped fuel criticism of Ramaswamy and spread quickly.
And some of the backlash against Ramaswamy was explicitly racist, tying ITServe Alliance’s predominantly Indian leadership to Ramaswamy’s background as the son of first-generation Indian immigrants.
As with anything on X, it’s impossible to tell how many of the comments came from genuine users. But some critics said they are Ohio conservatives and questioned voting for him.
Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton are the likely top candidates in the November 2026 election to replace Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who is term-limited.
By last Tuesday afternoon, Ramaswamy Campaign Manager Jonathan Ewing announced Ramaswamy had pulled out of the event.
“The rhetoric displayed in this video is inappropriate, and I can confirm that Vivek will not be participating in this conference,” Ewing said in a post on X.
Ramswamy’s involvement with the event still attracted some national attention.
“Is Vivek trying to lose the Ohio election?” wrote Mike Cernovich, a prominent Trump-aligned influencer, in a post published hours after Ramaswamy dropped out of the event.
Why Ramaswamy agreed to speak
In text messages to Signal, Campaign spokesperson Connie Luck said Ramaswamy agreed to appear at the event because he already planned to be in Puerto Rico at the same time.
“We had several finance events scheduled in PR and Vivek was going to speak because we were planning to be down there anyway. As far as why he dropped out, Jonathan’s tweet was clear on that,” Luck said.
As for what Ramaswamy had planned to say, Luck said only that “it was a tech conference.”
ITServe Alliance Officials didn’t return a message from Signal Ohio. But the group’s website has been updated with a banner emphasizing its non-partisan nature.
“ITServe Alliance wants to be clear that we stand with President Trump and his administration in stopping illegal immigration and reforming the system with merit-based solutions,” the message says.
This story was updated to include a statement from The Murthy Law Firm.