The Hustler

Created
Wed, 30/08/2023 - 03:00
Updated
Wed, 30/08/2023 - 03:00
I just watched Andrea Mitchell attempt to interview the fast-talking hustler Vivek Ramaswamy. It wasn’t pretty. Anyway, this is making the rounds today: Philip Bump has this interesting take: This Oct. 27, 2003, exchange between Sharpton and Chris Matthews, host of the MSNBC show “Hardball,” has reentered circulation in the past few days because there was a 2024 Republican presidential candidate in the room. The event was hosted by the Harvard University Institute of Politics and, at the time, Vivek Ramaswamy was a Harvard student. So when Matthews turned to the audience for questions soon after the event started, Ramaswamy was the first to offer one. “Rev. Sharpton, hello, I’m Vivek,” he began. “I want to ask you — last week on the show we had Sen. [John] Kerry and the week before we had Sen. [John] Edwards, and my question for you is: Of all the Democratic candidates out there, why should I vote for the one with the least political experience?” And right there, you can probably see why the clip has gained new attention. Ramaswamy entered the 2024 presidential race without any experience in elected office, something that was leveled against the candidate during the first primary debate held last week in Wisconsin. Sharpton, being Sharpton, had a clever response ready. “Well, you shouldn’t,” he told Ramaswamy, “because I have the most political experience.” The crowd laughed. “I got involved in the political movement when I was 12 years old,” Sharpton continued. “And I’ve been involved in social policy for the…