Vivek Ramaswamy accused of plagiarizing Obama speech during Republican debate

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was accused of plagiarizing one of Barack Obama’s signature speeches during his remarks onstage at Wednesday’s Republican presidential primary debate in Wisconsin.

During the debate, Mr Ramaswamy responded to a question about his political newcomer status, telling the crowd, “Let me just address the question that is on everybody’s mind at home tonight.”

“Who the heck is this skinny guy with a funny last name and what the heck is he doing in the middle of this debate stage?” he continued.

Observers quickly pointed out how this remark sounded similar to Barack Obama’s career-making 2004 speech as a Senate hopeful at the Democratic National Convention, a famous address where he referred to himself as “a skinny kid with a funny name.”

“‘Skinny guy with a funny name’ sounds very….Obamaesque,” former White House press secretary Jen Psaki wrote on X.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.