Fresh off an endorsement from former U.S. Rep. Steve King, presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy dismissed much of the reporting into the controversial Iowa congressman’s past comments on white supremacy and white nationalism, calling it “downright false.”

“People can judge for themselves, is that really racist or is this a man who is speaking his convictions that are true and good-hearted, that the mainstream media and The New York Times has decided to label as a word that they know will alienate people?” Ramaswamy said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with Des Moines Register Chief Politics Reporter Brianne Pfannenstiel and NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns in the Register’s newsroom.

The author and entrepreneur turned Republican candidate defended King despite his history of controversial comments, including from a 2019 interview with The Times in which he said, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” King lost a Republican primary election in 2020 to now-U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra.

** It won’t come to it, but Samaswamy said he pledged to pardon Trump on his first day in office. – Karen