Ariel Zilber
Right-leaning satirical news site the Babylon Bee got blowback on social media over a parody story about former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy being named manager of “the White House 7-Eleven convenience store.”
Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old biotech mogul, announced on Tuesday that he was dropping out of the race and endorsing the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump.
Ramaswamy made the announcement following Trump’s landslide victory on Monday in the Iowa caucuses.
The Babylon Bee, which was reinstated on the platform formerly known as Twitter after the site was acquired by tech mogul Elon Musk, posted a story on Tuesday with the headline: “Trump Promises Vivek An Administration Position Running The White House 7-Eleven.”
The image shows Ramaswamy in front of a 7-Eleven store wearing a green company T-shirt with the brand’s logo.
The parody article even included a made-up quote from Trump, who said: “I’ve always said Vimbik Rumpsalami was a great man, one of the greatest men, to be honest… That’s why I’ve asked Rikki-Tikki-Tavi if he would accept the honor of running the White House 7-Eleven in the West Wing.”
Critics on social media accused the Babylon Bee of promoting racist stereotypes about Indians with the fake news item.
“I like the Bee, but this was kind of in poor taste,” Nick Dumitru wrote on his X social media account.
Another X user wrote: “Low blow from Babylon Bee.”
“Not your best work,” another X critic wrote.
Others, however, urged naysayers to lighten up.
Matt Walsh, the right-leaning podcaster, joked: “Just reported this account to the FBI for hate crimes.”
Another X user wrote: “Come on guys. I’m Indian and get those jokes all the time. It’s a joke! Relax! It’s all good.”
Seth Dillon, the CEO of the Babylon Bee, posted a tongue-in-cheek response to the backlash on Wednesday, writing: “Some of our readers have expressed concern about this report, suggesting it did not meet the high journalistic standards they’ve come to expect from us.”
“We want you to know that we’ve listened to you,” Dillon continued, adding: “We’ve heard your voices. And they are stupid.”
Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants who studied biology at Harvard before obtaining a law degree from Yale, is one of the wealthiest Americans under the age of 40.
Last summer, Forbes estimated that he was worth $950 million.
He derives most of his fortune from the 10% ownership stake in Roivant Sciences, the biotechnology firm that he founded in 2014.
Ramaswamy could not be immediately reached for comment.
This post was originally posted by New York Post
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