WATCH: Don Lemon says GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy doesn't get to have an opinion on the Civil War because he's not black

On Wednesday, successful businessman and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy sat down for an interview with CNN This Morning. Hosts Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow grilled him on a variety of topics, but things really kicked off when they discussed whether the end of the Civil War marked a turning point in black Americans fight for basic rights.

While Ramaswamy argued that it had, Lemon suggested he did not get to have an opinion at all because of the color of his skin.



"I wanna better understand something you said this week speaking before the audience at the NRA," Harlow began, referring to Ramaswamy's comments on gun laws passed in 1865 that sought to prevent black people from owning guns in America. Harlow took issue with his suggestion that "then as in now," Democrats wanted to put black people "back in chains."

Ramaswamy defended his position, explaining that, "policies like that of Lyndon Johnson and Joe Biden that are actually holding black Americans back."

"I don't really see what one has to do with the other," Lemon chimed in, "using the Civil War to talk about black Americans. That war wasn't fought for black Americans to have guns, that's not–"

"That war was fought for black people to have freedoms in this country," Ramaswamy interjected. "That's why the Civil War was fought."

Lemon attempted to argue his point, but Ramaswamy shut him down again by pointing out that black people did not get to enjoy all the freedoms granted to other Americans "until their second amendment rights were secured."

The CNN host eventually suggested that black people to this day "aren't allowed to enjoy the freedoms in this country," an position Ramaswamy decried as a "disservice" to America.

With no counterargument, Lemon said, simply, "When you are in black skin and you live in this country then you can disagree with me, but we're not."

"We have to be able to talk about these issues in the open regardless of the color of our skin," Ramaswamy said, to which Lemon replied that it was "insulting to [him] as an African-American."

In the aftermath of the discussion, many on social media praised Ramaswamy for how he handled things with Lemon.

"The fact that Vivek stayed poised and on point while this rude and condescending 'journalist' berated and constantly interrupted him is commendable," one YouTube user commented. "Great job. We are with you. The country needs strong voices and true patriots now more than ever."