Slaven Vlasic, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
- Vivek Ramaswamy attended an X Spaces livestream with Elon Musk, Andrew Tate, Alex Jones, and others.
- At one point, Jones said it sounded as if someone was in the bathroom; Ramaswamy quickly muted.
- About 100,000 listeners were tuned in at the time.
Vivek Ramaswamy appeared to forget to turn his mic off while relieving himself during an X Spaces livestream with controversial figures including Alex Jones and Andrew Tate.
Ramaswamy was one of the first candidates to announce a run for the Republican Party presidential nomination in 2024, behind former President Donald Trump and Nikki Haley. He is a regular face on Fox News, where he's become known for his conservative "anti-woke" stance.
The X Space that Ramaswamy was invited to on December 10 was hosted by the entrepreneur Mario Nawfal and was also attended by Elon Musk, the right-wing political activist Jack Posobiec, and the commentators Jackson Hinkle and CJ Pearson. About 2.3 million people tuned in.
The livestream took place hours after Alex Jones' X account was reinstated. Jones, a far-right commentator best known for pushing the conspiracy theory that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, was permanently banned from the platform formerly known as Twitter more than five years ago.
At one point, while about 100,000 people were listening, Musk and another speaker were discussing the choice not to have children when a trickle of water could be heard in the background.
Jones interrupted the conversation to say, "Somebody's got their phone in the bathroom."
"That's your phone, Vivek," said Nawfal. "I'm not able to mute you."
Ramaswamy then turned off his mic and reappeared a second later to apologize.
"Sorry about that," he said.
"Well, I hope you feel better," Musk said, laughing.
Ramaswamy replied: "I feel great, thank you."
Ramaswamy didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The moment spurred hundreds of comments and memes.
"Vivek is literally draining the swamp," one listener wrote.
"Is he the first candidate we've heard pee?" asked another.
Musk also shared his amusement and commented on one of the clips that was shared on X after the livestream.
"I'm literally rofl rn," he wrote.
Ramaswamy is attempting to reach younger voters on social media, using tactics such as collaborating with YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul. When joining TikTok in September, however, Ramaswamy was immediately met by witches hexing him.
In a Business Insider investigation published in September, former colleagues and staff described Ramaswamy as paranoid, high-maintenance, and having an insistence on the air conditioning in his office being set at 64 degrees or below.