Vivek Ramaswamy Controversy Ohio

Vivek Ramaswamy Campaigned Twice at a Church Whose Pastor Called Modern Judaism 'Fake.' Ohio's Legislative Jewish Caucus Wants Him to Say So Out Loud.

Ramaswamy appeared at Liberty Valley Church in Northfield last December and again in May, alongside a pastor who compared COVID rules to Nazi Germany and whose members protested outside a Jewish lawmaker's home. The Ohio Jewish Caucus says he 'should not remain silent.'

MAGA Report Cards · Oct 06, 2026

Vivek Ramaswamy Campaigned Twice at a Church Whose Pastor Called Modern Judaism 'Fake.' Ohio's Legislative Jewish Caucus Wants Him to Say So Out Loud. — Photo: Arden S. Barnes / For The Washington Post via Getty Images

Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican running for governor of Ohio, has gone back more than once to a church whose pastor has called the modern practice of Judaism "fake." On October 5, the Ohio legislature's Jewish Caucus asked him to say plainly that he rejects it.

The church and the pastor

The Forward reported on September 30 that Ramaswamy has campaigned twice at Liberty Valley Church in Northfield, which calls itself a "Bible-Believing Non Denominational Patriotic Church." He appeared there last December. Then on May 21, he came back for a campaign event on "The Future of Religious Liberty," sharing the stage with the church's longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeff Tauring.

Here's what the Forward found about Tauring and his church:

Earlier this year, in a sermon, Tauring described the modern practice of Judaism as "fake." He called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "wicked person" because "he doesn't believe in Jesus Christ and he should."
In 2021, several church members showed up outside the home of Casey Weinstein, a Jewish Democratic state lawmaker, during protests over COVID rules. They carried explicitly Christian messages, including a "kneel before the cross" banner. Weinstein called it a "show of force" meant to intimidate him, and said aiming those messages at a Jewish lawmaker's home made it antisemitic.
Defending that protest to the Cleveland Jewish News at the time, Tauring denied it was antisemitic — and then compared COVID vaccine mandates and health rules to the Nazi policies that came before the Holocaust.

That last part matters in this race. Ramaswamy's opponent is Amy Acton, Ohio's health director during the pandemic. She is Jewish, and the Forward reports she was the target of antisemitic abuse and Nazi comparisons while she enforced those same COVID rules. If she wins, she'd be Ohio's first Jewish governor.

"He's going to govern based on what is worshiped right here"

At the May event, Josh Mandel, who ran for U.S. Senate in 2022 and organized the event, told the crowd what a Ramaswamy administration would look like. According to a recording the Forward obtained:

"I know Vivek. He's not just going to campaign in churches once he's governor; he's going to keep coming back. And he's going to govern based on what is worshiped right here in this church."

When the Forward reached out, the Ramaswamy campaign put Mandel forward to answer. Mandel called both the pastor and Ramaswamy great friends of the Jewish people. He said he wasn't familiar with Tauring's past remarks, and didn't address them when the Forward shared them.

Mandel also shared a clip of Ramaswamy at that event calling antisemitism "a cancer" that has to be confronted on the left and by "some people who claim to be on the right."

Those are the right words. The question is why Ramaswamy said them on a stage he shared with a pastor who calls Judaism "fake" — and why the only answer the Forward got about Tauring came from Mandel, not from Ramaswamy.

The Jewish Caucus asks him to say it

On October 5, the Ohio Jewish Caucus called on Ramaswamy to "unequivocally reject Tauring's comments disparaging modern Judaism." The caucus — all Democrats, including House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn and state Senator Casey Weinstein, whose home those church members stood outside — said Ramaswamy "should not remain silent when a pastor he has chosen to stand alongside publicly disparages the Jewish faith."

It's not a hard thing to do. A candidate who truly believes antisemitism is a cancer can say, in one sentence, that a pastor calling Judaism "fake" is wrong.

A pattern of who he stands next to

This isn't the first time Ramaswamy has had to answer for the company he keeps. The Forward notes he has built close ties to Tucker Carlson, who the outlet says has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories. Jewish groups also criticized him for going on a podcast whose host had pushed antisemitic stereotypes. His defense then was that he didn't know about the host's views, and that talking to someone isn't endorsing them.

That defense is harder to make about a church he visited twice, for an event his campaign was part of, where his ally promised he'd govern by what's preached there.

He's not the only Republican running for governor this year with this problem. In Wisconsin, Tom Tiffany went on a podcast whose host praised Hitler and accepted the host's offer to help his campaign.

What we know

Vivek Ramaswamy campaigned at Liberty Valley Church in Northfield last December and again on May 21, sharing the stage with Pastor Jeff Tauring, who has called modern Judaism "fake," compared COVID rules to Nazi policies, and whose members protested outside a Jewish lawmaker's home. At that May event, Ramaswamy's ally Josh Mandel said he would "govern based on what is worshiped right here in this church." Ohio's Jewish Caucus has asked Ramaswamy to reject Tauring's remarks; his campaign's answer so far came through Mandel, who said he wasn't familiar with them.