Vivek Ramaswamy says January 6 was the result of censorship across the country

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says that the January 6 riot was the result of massive censorship and the U.S. cannot move forward until problems of 2020 are acknowledged. 

"January 6 was the result of a pervasive culture of censorship across the country," Ramaswamy said at the Turning Point USA Action Conference on Saturday. "When you tell people they cannot speak, they scream. That is when they tear things down." 

"We cannot move forward in this country until we have truly reckoned with the truth of what happened in 2020," he stated. 

He went on to list examples of censorship leading up to the 2020 presidential election, such as social media censorship when it came to COVID-19 and the New York Post being largely censored when the outlet first covered the Hunter Biden laptop story. 

"They shut down the account of the fourth largest paper in circulation in the United States — the New York Post founded by Alexander Hamilton," Ramaswamy told the crowd. 

Ramaswamy is the first millennial to run for U.S. president as a Republican and has made a lot of his messaging towards young people and bringing back American pride. 

"We are hungry for a cause," he stated. "We are hungry for purpose and meaning and identity at a time in our national history. The things that used to fill our void: faith, patriotism, hard work and family — these things have disappeared."

According to a poll conducted early in July, Ramaswamy is just six points behind Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also running for president in 2024.