Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy share stories of their wives’ miscarriages
Gabrielle M. Etzel
Video Embed
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy shared emotional stories on Friday about their wives having miscarriages during an evangelical Christian family campaign event in Iowa for the 2024 presidential election.
Both men opened up about their experiences at the Family Leader Thanksgiving Family Forum, organized by Bob Vander Plaats, who has historically been a key figure in the state’s GOP caucuses.
SPACEX PRAISES ‘INCREDIBLY SUCCESSFUL DAY’ AFTER ROCKET BLEW UP MID-FLIGHT
DeSantis first shared his family’s experience with miscarriage by recounting his trip with his wife, Casey, to Israel early in their marriage. It was in Israel, the governor said, that he and his wife prayed for their first child.
“We go back to the United States, and a little time later, we got pregnant,” said DeSantis. “But unfortunately, we lost that first baby.”
Shortly after that revelation, Ramaswamy revealed that he and his wife, Apoorva, had a similar experience while she was in her medical residency program in New York City.
“And about three and a half months in, you know, Apoorva, one day she woke up, she said, ‘I’m bleeding.’ She had a miscarriage,” Ramaswamy said, noting that this was the first time he had publicly shared the story.
“We lost our first child, and that was the loss of a life. It was our family’s loss,” said Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy also said that his wife experienced bleeding during her second pregnancy with their son Karthik, but he survived. Karthik, age four, joined his father onstage for the remainder of the event.
Both men affirmed that their faith got them and their families through their respective ordeals, but neither acknowledged their similar experiences while onstage together at the event.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Approximately two in three Republican voters in the 2016 Iowa caucuses identified as evangelical or born-again Christians, making religion and religious topics, such as abortion, important for voters.
Ramaswamy and DeSantis have both been criticized by anti-abortion organizations for their similar stance that regulating abortion should be a state-based issue.