Vivek Ramaswamy Roasted for ‘Truly Amazing Non-Understanding’ of ’90s Television After ‘Boy Meets World’ Complaints
Vivek Ramaswamy went on a long rant on social media this week, complaining about, among other things, the chosen heroes of 1990s television shows. But, fans of those shows are pretty sure he missed the mark entirely.
In a lengthy post to X, Ramaswamy argued that the reason tech companies hire employees from other countries is not “because of an innate American IQ deficit,” but rather because “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long.” According to Ramaswamy, it began in the ’90s, in large part due to popular TV shows.
“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” he wrote. “A culture that venerates Cory from ‘Boy Meets World,’ or Zach [sic] & Slater over Screech in ‘Saved by the Bell,’ or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in ‘Family Matters,’ will not produce the best engineers.”
The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024
In the days following his post, Ramaswamy was roasted on social media for it, with fans picking on various points in the post. Chief among them was the idea that Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage in “Boy Meets World,” was anyone’s favorite character on the ABC sitcom.
“LMAO who venerates Cory from Boy Meets World,” one person wrote. “This 100% reads like Vivek was stuffed into lockers at 9 years old and spent 30 years waiting to lash out to prove his superiority.”
Another argued that the analogy offers “no better insight into Vivek’s psyche,” while another joked that it proved he didn’t actually watch the show.
LMAO who venerates Cory from Boy Meets World.
This 100% reads like Vivek was stuffed into lockers at 9 years old and spent 30 years waiting to lash out to prove his superiority. https://t.co/29MOhqxIWb— Jeremy Spector (@JRSpecs) December 26, 2024
There’s no better insight into Vivek’s psyche than the fact the example of a jock/cool guy from Boy Meets World is Cory and not Shawn, or even Eric. https://t.co/La69nWJSbE pic.twitter.com/iJTpkBRw1g
— Stuart Benson (@LeftHandStu) December 26, 2024
How to say you never watched Boy Meets World without saying you never watched Boy Meets World: "Cory is the prime example of the cool guy/jock/prom king archetype" https://t.co/w7tFGtVewz
— Dedlok (@Dedlok) December 26, 2024
Also this is a truly amazing non-understanding of “Boy Meets World.” How in the world is CORY the first name you come up with for the “venerated” jock/prom king/cool guy archetype. CORY?
— Pablo Torre
(@PabloTorre) December 26, 2024
Others pointed out that, in reality, the fictional characters Ramaswamy took aim at were actually quite smart, and explicitly shown as such.
“That’s setting aside that Zach [sic] got into Yale, Slater got a wrestling scholarship to Iowa (best program in the country) AND got into West Point, and Stefan Urkel was just as smart as Steve!” one person noted. “Ben Savage from Boy Meets World went to Stanford!”
Also it's a completely idiotic point.
That's setting aside that Zach got into Yale, Slater got a wrestling scholarship to Iowa (best program in the country) AND got into West Point, and Stefan Urkel was just as smart as Steve! Ben Savage from Boy Meets World went to Stanford! pic.twitter.com/C0rxPcNyln— The okayest poster there is (@ok_post_guy) December 26, 2024
Canonically, Zack Morris scored a 1502 on his SATs, 300 points better than Screech, and was accepted to Yale. https://t.co/x7InY4nnV2
— G. Scott Shand
(@GScottShand) December 26, 2024
But, beyond Ramaswamy’s irritation with TV characters, many mocked him for arguing there are flaws in American culture itself, given that he works for Donald Trump.
VIVEK NO YOU'RE A REPUBLICAN NOW!!! YOU CAN'T SAY PEOPLE ARE UNSUCCESSFUL BECAUSE OF A DYSFUNCTIONAL CULTURE, LACK OF POSITIVE ROLE MODELS, AND AN ENTITLED VICTIM MENTALITY!!! NO VIVEK THEY'RE WHITE PEOPLE!!! YOU HAVE TO SAY IT'S STRUCTURAL FORCES AND NOT THEIR FAULT VIVEK!!! https://t.co/vrPV4fF3G7 pic.twitter.com/b5ut6DKdio
— Quantіan (@quantian1) December 26, 2024
Been laughing for a couple of hours at this man telling the "They took our jobs! DEI!" crowd (his constituents) "nah y'all are just dumb and lazy. To your very core. Right down to the television shows you grew up on"
holy shit https://t.co/SL0EuI43sm
—
America Is Musty
(@DragonflyJonez) December 27, 2024
Wait, I thought immigrants are bad, and normal Americans are good? Isn't that core of Trumpism? According to Vivek immigrant workers are *better* than Americans! Seriously, help. I am confused. https://t.co/yDcPLrlTFi https://t.co/RKmZZ4hgfM
— Simon Rosenberg (@SimonWDC) December 27, 2024
Even Nikki Haley took issue with Ramaswamy’s post.
“There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture,” she wrote. “All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers.”
There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture. All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers. https://t.co/fIGr45C3LD
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) December 26, 2024
You can see more reactions to Ramaswamy’s post below.
Everyone's dunking on him for the Boy Meets World thing, but I'm fixated on this paragraph.
We all see it, right? https://t.co/WGX6B2KkRp pic.twitter.com/NF5Kp0zSQ2— But what if Uncle Billy had never been born? (@tonygoldmark) December 26, 2024
"A culture that venerates Cory from Boy Meets World, or Zach & Slater over Screech in Saved by the Bell, or Stefan over Steve Urkel in Family Matters will not produce the best engineers."
Vivek is officially the dumbest person in the Trump admin, and that is saying something. https://t.co/EHHCr5bxAv— @brennanator.bsky.social (@Brennanator) December 26, 2024
The secretary of DOGE is airing his grievances about the guy with poor grades pulling Topanga in Boy Meets World 31 years ago https://t.co/BytfocdAGh
— Angelo Muredda (@amuredda) December 26, 2024
I can't get over how cringe this is.
"A culture that venerates Cory from “Boy Meets World,” or Zach & Slater over Screech in “Saved by the Bell,” or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in “Family Matters,” will not produce the best engineers." https://t.co/4QzwJJRerP— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) December 26, 2024
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