Vivek Ramaswamy Caught in Embarrassing Situation by Hot Mic

Vivek Ramaswamy was apparently caught urinating during an X Spaces livestream when the Republican primary candidate forgot to mute himself.

Ramaswamy, who is currently fourth in the GOP polls, joined a livestream in which Elon Musk interviewed Alex Jones, having reinstated the conspiracy theorist, known for spreading misinformation about September 11 and the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, to the platform.

During the conversation, audio emerged from Ramaswamy's phone that appeared to record him urinating, though the noise has not been verified.

"Someone's got their thing open peeing! Someone's got their phone open in the bathroom," Jones said as the noise interrupted their conversation.

The host of the call, entrepreneur Mario Nawfal, then asked Ramaswamy to turn off his microphone, saying he couldn't mute him. Ramaswamy muted himself then returned to apologize for the interruption.

"I hope you feel better," Musk said.

"I feel great, thank you," Ramaswamy replied.

Newsweek has contacted representatives for Ramaswamy by email to comment on this story.

With 4.8 percent of the vote, according to polling aggregators FiveThirtyEight, Ramaswamy is trailing behind GOP frontrunner Donald Trump and his other rivals Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, ahead of the first caucus in Iowa, scheduled for mid-January.

Last week the entrepreneur participated in the final Republican debate before the caucuses, where held up a sign reading "Nikki = corrupt," in reference to Haley, who he accused of practicing "identity" politics.

He also appeared to make unsubstantiated claims about the Capitol riot, in which Trump supporters stormed the government building on January 6, 2021, after he lost the presidential election, saying: "Why am I the only person on the stage at least who can say that [the Capitol riot on] January 6th now does look like it was an inside job?"

Ex-New Jersey Gov, Chris Christie meanwhile called Ramaswamy an "obnoxious blowhard in America," leading the business tycoon to say he should "get the hell off the stage."

Meanwhile, Jones, whose account was banned in September 2018 for violating the platform's abusive behavior policy, was reinstated to X after Musk posted a poll on the platform asking users whether he should be allowed on the platform.

His poll, in which some 70 percent said Jones should be allowed to return followed Jones posting a video message urging Musk to allow him back on ahead of an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

"Elon Musk says he's a free-speech absolutist, but still hasn't let me back on Twitter with my own channel," Jones said. "I'm not even mad at Elon Musk, I understand he's done as much as he thinks he can. But I hope Elon will watch this interview and actually hear from me why I was really banned on Twitter before he bought it, not for the false reasons he's given."