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Vivek Ramaswamy Wins Cleveland.com’s ‘Worst Use of Social Media’ for Year-Round School Proposal His Own Supporters Thought Must Be AI

Columbus, Ohio – Cleveland.com’s 2025 Sloopy Awards has crowned Vivek Ramaswamy the winner of the ‘Worst Use of Social Media’ award for his year-round schooling video. The video, which supporters found so bizarre that they claimed it was AI, received a whopping 26.38% of the vote from thousands of voters across Ohio. 

Read more about Vivek Ramaswamy’s video proposal to establish year-round schooling and AI controversy: 

Vivek Ramaswamy Had A Brutal News Week

Columbus, Ohio –  Vivek Ramaswamy had a brutal few weeks in the news as Ohioans and his own party continue to sour on his unpopular policies and messy campaign.

Ramaswamy’s campaign started this week still dealing with fallout from conservative Republicans from crafting an “absolutely insane”  policy proposal so “blatantly bad”  his supporters hoped it was AI generated. 

Then, new reporting revealed Ramaswamy pulled out of a planned speech at a conference after outrage from his base over the sponsoring company’s stance on outsourcing American jobs. He refused to explain his decision to keynote a conference advocating for outsourcing of American jobs after he told Ohioans how he really feels by calling them “lazy” and “mediocre” 

The more Ohioans get to know Ramaswamy, the less they like him. New polling found Ramaswamy losing ground with voters the more they heard from him, lining up with polling over the past several weeks that showed him losing ground around the state. It’s not good news for Ramaswamy, and as he keeps flying around the state it’s only bound to get worse. 

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ICYMI: Ramaswamy Slammed for “Embarrassing” Policy So Bad His Supporters Searched for “Nonsensical Explanations” 

Columbus, Ohio- In case you missed it, the Ironton Tribune editorial board slammed Vivek Ramaswamy’s botched education policy rollout where he revealed a policy so bad his own supporters thought it was AI. Even Republicans know Ramaswamy has the wrong idea for Ohio.

See for yourself: 

  • Last week, the campaign of Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton posted a seven-second clip of her rival, Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to her social media feeds. 
  • The clip featured Ramaswamy making a pitch to do away with summer break for students, making schools go year round and extend the length of the school day in the state.  
  • Setting aside the fact that year-round school has been proven to costs states more, due to increased expenses, such as utilities, wear and tear on buildings, as well as more staffing and administrative costs, looking at schools as a way to provide cheap or “free” babysitters shows Ramaswamy may have his priorities wrong when it comes to educational policy.  […]
  •  So it came as no surprise that the idea was deeply unpopular with many, even in Ramaswamy’s own party.  
  • Conservative commentator Meghan McCain described it “an absolutely insane idea” and said it was “completely removing the importance of family bonding time and anything non-academic related.”  
  • Rather than defend Ramaswamy’s policy idea, some Republicans and conservatives instead tried a different approach – concocting an elaborate, ludicrous conspiracy theory to try to clear away Ramaswamy’s ill-received idea.  
  • And Ramaswamy’s campaign eventually admitted, to the Columbus Dispatch, that the video, which they had deleted, was, in fact, a legitimate recording of their candidate.
  • Ramaswamy’s campaign owes Ohioans a better explanation here. Simply erasing the video, after their allies tried to claim it was fake, and hoping the matter vanishes down the memory hole is not sufficient.  
  • This entire display has been pure amateur hour – whether it is the nonsensical claims of fringe media figures Ramaswamy allies with or the campaign’s garbled explanation of the video and lack of clarification of his position, whatever that may be.  

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ICYMI: Vivek Ramaswamy Slammed for “Insane,” Video “So Dumb, his Fans Think it’s AI”

Mediaite: ‘ENOUGH’: Meghan McCain Outraged at Vivek Ramaswamy’s Deleted Plan for Year-Round School

“Republican commentator Meghan McCain branded Vivek Ramaswamy’s (R) plan to keep kids in school year-round as “absolutely insane.””

“McCain then eviscerated the idea.

“This is an absolutely insane idea – completely removing the importance of family bonding time and anything non academic related.”

The New Republic: Dem Shares Vivek Ramaswamy Video So Dumb, His Fans Think It’s AI

“MAGA Republicans accused a Democrat running against Vivek Ramawamy for Ohio governor of posting an AI-generated video of the DOGE czar-for-a-day pitching a truly terrible policy idea. Too bad for them, because the video was actually real.”

“That proposal was so blatantly bad that Republicans immediately started to accuse Acton of sharing a fake video. Far-right commentator Tim Pool claimed on his show Tuesday that the video Acton shared was AI and that the audio had been “replaced.””

“It turns out, the only one manipulating the video was Ramaswamy. The full video was originally posted to Ramaswamy’s social media accounts before being removed. Another version of the video was later reposted without the Republican’s plan to extend school hours, according to The Columbus Dispatch.”

Huffington Post: Vivek Ramaswamy Pitches Idea So Extreme Supporters Think His Opponent Made AI Video

“Conservatives had an extreme reaction to a video posted by Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Monday ― with many convinced it must be AI.”

“Even worse for Ramaswamy: One of the ideas proposed in the clip was apparently so extreme that people inclined to support his candidacy were convinced the video was a smear made by his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton.”

“Ramaswamy tried to counter the controversy by posting another video in which he accused Democrats like Acton of “distorting my position” on education, but didn’t mention the year-round proposal from the earlier video.”

“This isn’t the first time Ramaswamy’s views about the American education system have come back to bite him….Last December, he was heavily criticized after declaring that “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long,” and that a “culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.”

The Daily Beast: MAGA Insists Real Vivek Ramaswamy Policy Proposal Is AI

“MAGA has tried to excuse a real clip of Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy proposing “year-round” school as AI.”

“The video was posted on Monday afternoon and was up for several hours before it was deleted and replaced with a version that removed Ramaswamy’s year-round school proposal. He did, however, leave the original up on his Threads account. It is unclear why Ramaswamy deleted the proposal from his other platforms.”

Yahoo: Fact Check: Gubernatorial Opponent Amy Acton Did NOT Spread A Fake Video Of Vivek Ramaswamy Advocating Year-Round School — He Did Say It

“Did Ohio Democrat Amy Acton spread a fake video of Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy advocating year-round school, as social media posts claim? No, that’s not true:”

The Center Square: Ramaswamy edits video initially proposing year-round school

“Ohio Republican governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is quickly backing away from an idea to send children to school year-round and extend the school day.”

“Republicans initially claimed that Acton’s camp created the video using deepfake AI, but the campaign confirmed to the Columbus Dispatch that the video was real.”

“The video did not include any discussion of increased taxpayer costs for year-round schools or an extended school day.”

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Vivek Ramaswamy’s Ideas Are So Bad His Supporters Hope It’s Fake

Columbus, Ohio- After Vivek Ramaswamy was slammed for his out-of-touch video suggesting that making school year round was the best way to help working families, his supporters claimed the video was fake. Ramaswamy deleted and reposted the video in a desperate attempt at damage control, but confirmed the video was real.

“Even Ramaswamy’s biggest supporters know what voters across the state are learning now: Ramaswamy is a billionaire who doesn’t understand what Ohioans are going through while he’s flying cross country on a private jet,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “His policies are clearly out-of-touch and wrong for Ohio, which is why his biggest fans embarrassingly thought his video was AI.”

Read more: 

The New Republic: Dem Shares Vivek Ramaswamy Video So Dumb, His Fans Think It’s AI

  • MAGA Republicans accused a Democrat running against Vivek Ramawamy for Ohio governor of posting an AI-generated video of the DOGE czar-for-a-day pitching a truly terrible policy idea. Too bad for them, because the video was actually real.
  • Former Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton, a Democratic primary candidate for governor in Ohio, shared a clip on X Monday that showed Ramaswamy pitching an outrageous idea to lower the cost of childcare.
  • “Make parenting more affordable by making school year-round and going to four o’clock instead of three o’clock, so you don’t have to pay for childcare,” Ramaswamy said in the video.
  • That proposal was so blatantly bad that Republicans immediately started to accuse Acton of sharing a fake video. Far-right commentator Tim Pool claimed on his show Tuesday that the video Acton shared was AI and that the audio had been “replaced.”
  • It turns out, the only one manipulating the video was Ramaswamy. The full video was originally posted to Ramaswamy’s social media accounts before being removed. Another version of the video was later reposted without the Republican’s plan to extend school hours, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

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