As if his hometown team being swept in the NBA playoffs wasn’t mortifying enough, Vivek Ramaswamy was publicly humiliated shortly thereafter.
The former DOGE boss-turned-Ohio gubernatorial candidate attended Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Championship to watch his Cleveland Cavaliers lose to the New York Knicks.
After the Cavs’ brutal 37-point loss, Ramaswamy, whose courtside seats cost at least $60,000, unsuccessfully tried to turn his appearance into a campaign opportunity. He tried to enter the Knicks’ restricted area after the game, as he declared he was “running for governor of Ohio and wanted to welcome everyone to Ohio.”
But the Knicks’ security wasn’t having it, with a security official telling him to turn around as he “didn’t have access to the area,” The Rooster, a publication by Ohio politico D.J. Byrnes, reported.
Ramaswamy, who was reportedly ousted from DOGE by his co-captain Elon Musk, was reportedly visibly “flustered” after the embarrassment and snuck away from the area.
Before the game, he was also humiliated when security turned him away as he attempted to park near the Cavs ownership and players.
And despite rooting for the losing team, Ramaswamy also tried and failed to hang with MAGA-friendly Knicks owner James Dolan and some of the Knicks’ star players after the game.
Ramaswamy’s campaign did not immediatly return the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Online, Ramaswamy was all smiles as he posed with his wife, Dr. Arapova Ramaswamy, ahead of tip-off.
“Date night in Cleveland. Let’s go Cavs…all the way back!” he posted.
But only to add to his humiliation, his date-night post was retweeted by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose hometown team will play in its first NBA Finals since 1999, after the Cavs were defeated.
When asked on CNN if he was intentionally trolling Ramaswamy with his retweet, Mamdani just laughed and said, “I just hope he had a nice night, and we had a great one in New York.”
