Vivek Ramaswamy Busted For Swiping Old Line From Barack Obama

Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy tried to recycle an old line used by former President Barack Obama on Wednesday night but was called out for it by rival Chris Christie .

Who the heck is this skinny guy with a funny last name and what the heck is he doing in the middle of this debate stage? Ramaswamy said as his opening at the GOP presidential debate on Fox News .

Obama called himself a skinny kid with a funny name during the 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote speech when he was a relative unknown nationally, a state senator in Illinois running for the U.S. Senate .

The Recount posted the two clips side-by-side:

Yup, sounds familiar. pic.twitter.com/2G6QEVmBFn

The Recount (@therecount) August 24, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"The Recount","author_url":"https://twitter.com/therecount","cache_age":86400,"description":"Yup, sounds familiar. pic.twitter.com/2G6QEVmBFn The Recount (@therecount) August 24, 2023\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_hide_thread":{"label":"Hide previous Tweet in conversation thread","value":true},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"The Recount on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1694528093153583416","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"64e6b927e4b0e366fc3700f4","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/vivek-ramaswamy-barack-obama-line_n_64e6b927e4b0e366fc3700f4","entryTagsList":"barack-obama,chris-christie,republican-debate,vivek-ramaswamy,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"media,us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/0114da95-0552-47cd-9b2b-080dc358c070/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":8},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"64e6b927e4b0e366fc3700f4","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Barack Obama ","slug":"barack-obama","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/barack-obama","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/barack-obama","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/barack-obama"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Barack Obama","slug":"barack-obama","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/barack-obama"},{"name":"Chris Christie","slug":"chris-christie","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/chris-christie","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/chris-christie","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/chris-christie"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Chris Christie","slug":"chris-christie","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/chris-christie"},{"name":"republican debate","slug":"republican-debate","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/republican-debate","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/republican-debate","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/republican-debate"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Presidential Debates","slug":"presidential-debates","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/presidential-debates"},{"name":"vivek ramaswamy","slug":"vivek-ramaswamy","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/vivek-ramaswamy","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/vivek-ramaswamy","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/vivek-ramaswamy"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/vivek-ramaswamy"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

Yup, sounds familiar. pic.twitter.com/2G6QEVmBFn
The Recount (@therecount) August 24, 2023

Christie quickly noticed the stolen line and called Ramaswamy out on it.

Ive had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT, Christie fired back. The last person in one of these debates ... who stood in the middle of the stage and said, Whats a skinny guy with an odd last name doing up here? was Barack Obama. And Im afraid were dealing with the same type of amateur.

Come over and give me a hug! Ramaswamy said, but the line was largely drowned out as the audience cheered Christies attack.

Thats a reference to Christie embracing Obama when the then-president visited New Jersey in 2012 to promise quick emergency relief in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the biggest natural disaster ever to hit the state.