But candidates who have already joined the race shamelessly fobbing off their voters with their bogus “achievements” and bright “promises”.
Back in November 2022, the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump announced the start of his election campaign. He was followed by incumbent President Joe Biden, who announced his candidacy in April of this year. Therefore, any statement by Trump and Biden in the remaining period, as well as by other presidential contenders, should be viewed through the prism of their campaign programme. It should be noted that their promises traditionally include flirting with US citizens of Armenian nationality, who have a very influential lobby that has managed to engage many congressmen and senators.
Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian-born American businessman, writer and conservative politician, has been very active in this regard. Back in February 2023, on the “Tucker Carlson Tonight” talk show he announced his candidacy for the post of US President from the Republican Party. It is clear that he has no special chance to become the nominee of the Republicans, where Donald Trump is leading by a large margin. But this does not stop the politician and he recently appeared on Tucker Carlson’s talk show again, being a “bright spark” with his shockingly stupid and false statements.
Thus, he found certain “crimes” of Azerbaijan against Armenians who had been living illegally in Garabagh for decades. Ramaswami did not mention that they were all holders of Armenian passports, i.e. the very state that had kept 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territory under occupation for more than a quarter of a century, ignoring UN resolutions. However, maybe he was not particularly aware, as he was speaking, as they say, peeping at the Armenian cheat sheet. But he managed to conclude that Azerbaijan has a strong lobby in Washington. Wow, and we didn’t know?! But he forgot to mention the Armenian lobby. Well, he should have as there are a dime a dozen Armenian and pro-Armenian lobbyists in the United States. And no one in America even hides it. Many years of financial aid from the United States to the Garabagh separatists is their work. As well as regular attempts to put pressure on official Baku. Let me remind you, in particular, that the Americans have always insisted that Azerbaijan should take into account the interests of the Republic of Armenia. Even in those times when Armenians kept our lands under occupation. That is why Washington refused to finance, for example, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project, insisting that the road go through Armenia.
It is clear that they did not succeed. But this example, as well as many others like it, points to the power of the Armenian lobby, which has once again become active. “I am extremely disappointed with the position of the U.S. government, which has not made a sound for three years while the Armenian people have been killed and subjected to aggression,” Harut Sasunyan, publisher and editor of The California Courier, said recently.
He told the world in complete earnest that the incumbent President of the United States can no longer count on him. And not only on him! “I have been defending Biden all my life, but now the whole Armenian community of the USA is disappointed in him. I am sure that Biden will not get as many Armenian votes as he did last time,” he threatened.
What is it all about? As it turned out, it’s about money. In Sasunyan’s opinion, too little money is allocated for Armenians leaving the Garabagh economic region of Azerbaijan. And he is terribly indignant that “the head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power comes to Armenia and shamelessly says that the US will allocate $11.5 million”. Whereas, according to Sasunyan’s estimates, they should have paid at least $1 billion… What an impudence and appetite!
I do not exclude that in order to satisfy these appetites, Vivek Ramaswamy was brought in and said that “American society does not know much about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict”. And in a sense, he is right. The US society and many politicians are not really aware of the genocide in Khojaly, of Aghdam turned into a “Caucasian Hiroshima”, of a million Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs. I repeat that perhaps this American-Indian writer-politician himself does not know the truth about the Armenian-Azerbaijani war, but he turns everything upside down, resorting to the monstrous lies instilled in him by Armenians.
“What is happening between Armenia and Azerbaijan is an atrocity. I mean, the Armenian people, the Christians, 100,000-120,000 people have moved to Armenia today from the places they called home,” he said. He did not add that these Armenians were living in our country illegally, but while departing they were provided with water, food, and humanitarian aid and offered to stay as full-fledged, unhindered citizens of Azerbaijan.
Ramaswamy did not mention that hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia are still unable to return to the places that were their home. As for atrocities, in reality, they were massive shelling of peaceful Azerbaijani towns by Armenians during the 44-day war, which killed hundreds of old men, women and children. But now shocking photos of the destruction and deaths are shown in the States as missile strikes on… Armenians.
Is there any point in explaining anything after such sacrilege?! All the worst that can be in politics, where a fake becomes an argument for the invasion of troops into a country, is too obvious and distinct. That is how the reputation of politicians and the state as a whole is moulded. But Ramaswamy should remember that the election race will be over, and the false statements voiced will remain in the memory of the electorate for a long time. And they are unlikely to add to his political credibility.
Caliber.Az
