Megyn Kelly Replays Vivek Ramaswamy's 2024 Free-Speech Rebuke of House GOP

Vivek Ramaswamy, now the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, told Megyn Kelly in 2024 that House Republicans who voted for the Antisemitism Awareness Act had undercut their own party's case for free speech. Kelly replayed the clip on Sunday in a "Second Look" episode of The Megyn Kelly Show.

The remark is an unusual break with his own side from a candidate nine days from Election Day. Ramaswamy is running against Democrat Amy Acton, the former director of the Ohio Department of Health, and PolitiKool's polling average shows Acton ahead 48.4 percent to 45.3 percent.

Kelly opened the episode by saying Ramaswamy "could be the next Ohio governor," or that "he could lose to Amy Acton, which would be devastating for Ohioans."

What Ramaswamy Said About the Antisemitism Bill

The 2024 segment came as protests against Israel spread across college campuses. Kelly brought up the bill herself, calling it "this so-called anti-Semitism bill that passed overwhelmingly in the House."

"This is crazy to me, Vivek, that it is not illegal to be a racist, to be a bigot, to be an anti-Semite, to be a transphobe," Kelly said. "But we've lost our way if this thing passed as healthily as it did."

Ramaswamy agreed. He drew a line between disruption and opinion: "No, that doesn't mean you get to disrupt the way a college campus operates." But the First Amendment, he said, "means you get to express all opinions, right, regardless of the content of that opinion."

Then he turned on his own party. He said "many people who have a little R after their name and serve in the House of Representatives" had chosen "to adopt the same methods of the left in a way that actually erodes our own moral authority to talk about things like free speech."

"I think it completely erodes any moral authority that we have to ever preach about free speech." — Vivek Ramaswamy

The replayed clip cuts off partway through his next sentence.

How the House Voted

The House passed the bill, H.R. 6090, 320 to 91 on May 1, 2024. Kelly's breakdown on air matches the Clerk of the House roll call: 21 Republicans and 70 Democrats voted no. Republicans backed it 187 to 21 and Democrats 133 to 70, with 18 members not voting.

The opposition crossed party lines. Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler of New York said the bill "does nothing to fight antisemitism in any meaningful way," while Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said it "could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel," the Concord Monitor reported.

What the Bill Actually Does

Whether the bill restricts speech is disputed. Kelly's comment about what is "illegal" was her own, but Ramaswamy went further, saying the bill makes "certain opinions that legally cannot be expressed."

The text the House passed contains no criminal penalties. It directs the Department of Education to take into account the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism when it investigates discrimination complaints under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It also says that "nothing in this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the First Amendment."

The bill's supporters say its reach ends there. Representative Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat who led the bill with Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York, said it "protects the First Amendment" and "allows criticism of Israel," according to his office's release.

Critics answer that the definition's examples, including some about Israel, could lead schools to police protected political speech in order to avoid federal investigations.

Where the Bill Stands Now

Ramaswamy said the bill was "now awaiting passage into law in the United States Senate." It never got there. The Senate did not vote on the House bill before the 118th Congress ended. A new Senate version, S. 558, went to a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee markup in April 2025 and has stalled in committee since then, without a vote to send it to the floor.

Jewish Insider reported that senators in both parties objected to the IHRA language on free-speech grounds.

Ramaswamy's Pitch in the Governor's Race

On the campaign trail, Ramaswamy has focused less on speech than on antisemitism itself. At the Republican Jewish Coalition's conference in Las Vegas on August 31, he called antisemitism "an attack on success," Jewish Insider reported. In those remarks he did not mention the bill.

He has also faced attacks from the right, including from Candace Owens, who said she won't "lift a finger" for him.

Whether the 2024 argument from The Megyn Kelly Show helps or hurts him with Ohio Republicans is still open. Voters decide on November 3.