Satirical Site's Parody of Vivek Ramaswamy Sparks Controversy

Critics accuse The Babylon Bee of promoting racist stereotypes, while the site and some conservatives defend the joke as harmless satire.

Satirical news site The Babylon Bee faced backlash for a parody story about former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy being named manager of 'the White House 7-Eleven convenience store', which critics on social media accused of promoting racist stereotypes about Indians.
Ramaswamy, a biotech mogul, had recently announced his withdrawal from the presidential race and endorsed former President Donald Trump following Trump's landslide victory in the Iowa caucuses.
The Babylon Bee's CEO, Seth Dillon, responded to the criticism with a tongue-in-cheek statement, dismissing the concerns raised by some readers.
Despite the controversy, some conservatives, including right-leaning podcaster Matt Walsh, defended the Bee's joke, and Ramaswamy himself retweeted Walsh's post with the caption 'I'm a 'survivor.''
Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, is one of the wealthiest Americans under the age of 40, with an estimated net worth of $950 million, mostly derived from his 10% ownership stake in Roivant Sciences, a biotechnology firm he founded.