Vivek Ramaswamy has emerged as a leading Republican candidate, but now his religion is coming under attack. Ramaswamy, the son of immigrants from southern India, is a practicing Hindu. His faith has been attacked by both the Ron DeSantis campaign and Hank Kuneeman, a pro-Donald Trump pastor, self-christened “prophet,” and 2020 election denier.

Kunneman recently spent a large part of a recent sermon attacking Ramaswamy’s faith, claiming the U.S. is in danger from this “new young guy,” The Hindustan Times reported.

According to Kunneman, no matter how good “someone’s policies were,” if the politician doesn’t profess the “name of Yeshua” it is a problem. Jesus’ name in Hebrew was “Yeshua” which translates to English as Joshua.

“If he does not serve the Lord Jesus Christ you will have a fight with God, Kunneman said about Ramaswamy. “What are we doing? You’re gonna have some dude put his hand on something other than the Bible? You’re going to let him put all of his strange gods up in the White House?”

Ramaswamy has never denied his Hindu faith and he has noted “running for pastor-in-chief” but commander-in-chief. He claims that the “real divide” isn’t between those of Hindu, Christian or Jewish faith” but between those who believe in “one true God” and “those who have replaced the vacuum with new religions like “wokeism, transgenderism, climateism and covidism.”

Ramaswamy has said he finds his faith as an advantage.

He once said, “I stand unapologetically for the revival of faith. I’m at liberty to do it even more freely without anybody accusing me of being a ‘Christian nationalist.’”

Ramaswamy has been attacked by other Christian nationalists, including Jackson Lahmeyer, who founded Pastors for Trump, the Associated Press reported.

Ramaswamy, a 37-year-old biotech entrepreneur, has been gaining support in a party dominated by conservative Christians. In many polls, he’s in third place behind Trump and DeSantis.

He is also only the nation’s second Hindu presidential candidate. The first was Tulsi Gabbard, a former Hawaii congresswoman who ran as a Democrat in 2020.

Despite the backlash, Ramaswamy has defended his faith while trying to connect with Christian voters.

“I’m an ardent defender of religious liberty,” he told AP. “I will be an even more vocal and unapologetic defender of it precisely because no one is going to accuse me of being a Christian nationalist.”

Ramaswamy attended St. Xavier Catholic High School in Cincinnati, and told AP he learned a strong “Protestant work ethic” from his piano teacher of 10 years.

“The lessons learned being Hindu were similar and in many ways overlapping with Judeo-Christian values like sacrifice, performing your duty without attachment to the results and believing that your work on this Earth is not being done by you, but through you,” he said, adding these Hindu values seem to resonate with Christian and Jewish audiences.

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy speaks in the spin room after a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by Fox News Channel, Aug. 23, 2023, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)