DC, Washington Vivek Ramaswamy aspires to follow in Donald Trump's footsteps as an outsider who will challenge the political establishment in the United States, win the presidency, and advance a hard-right agenda from the Oval Office.
In an interview this month with British actor and podcast presenter Russell Brand, Ramaswamy said of the former president, "I'm more like Trump in 2015 than Trump today is to Trump in 2015."
Jokingly, Brand said, "Trumper than Trump, trumping Trump on Trumpness."
At the first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential election season, Ramaswamy would give a performance reminiscent of Trump two weeks later, criticizing opponents, relishing assaults, and advancing unconventional policy ideas.
And political experts and media commentators throughout the nation took notice: Ramaswamy was generally hailed as the night's victor when the regular post-debate assessments appeared in the US media after the event on Wednesday.
"Ramaswamy, who really dominated a lot of the discussion and a lot of the vitriol – it was actually a good night for him," Republican pundit John Feehery said in an interview with Al Jazeera following the debate.
Despite the accolades he has received, Ramaswamy is promoting a number of extreme viewpoints that liberals deem hazardous, such as the denial of global warming and the possibility of military operations against drug traffickers in Mexico.Is there a real challenge for Trump in the Republican Party? the conclusion
Recent surveys indicate that Ramaswamy is still far behind Trump in the fight for the Republican nomination, but his ascent demonstrates the party's readiness to back individuals who hold extreme, unusual views and have no prior political background.
The Republican base is looking for a "bully" or a "authoritarian" candidate, according to Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman who is now a vocal opponent of the party.
"Trump is that. The only other two individuals on that stage the other night, outside Trump, were [Florida Governor Ron] DeSantis & Ramaswamy. Nothing else."Vivek Ramaswamy: who is he?
Ramaswamy, 38, the son of Indian immigrants to the US, amassed fortunes in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries before publishing Woke, Inc., a book that propelled him to prominence in right-wing politics, in 2021.
He railed against environmental, social, and corporate governance, or ESG, the movement for ethical and sustainable business practices, in the book.
From then, the Ramaswamy, who was born and reared in Ohio, started appearing on right-wing media, such as Fox News, where he would criticize liberals for their emphasis on identity politics. His remarks also tapped into conservatives' ire over the Supreme Court's June ban on race-based admissions practices known as affirmative action at universities.
Ramaswamy has advocated for a "meritocracy" that disregards race in opposed to measures meant to foster diversity. He frequently says, "Reverse racism is racism."
On August 23, 2023, Ramaswamy debates former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley during the Republican debate. [Photo by Morry Gash/AP]
Few people would have known Ramaswamy's name when he began his campaign for the White House this year, despite his media appearances.
But in a matter of months, he transformed from being a fairly unknown person on a national scale to a candidate vying with DeSantis for second place in Republican presidential polls.
"To many Americans, the idea of an outsider being able to correct what's wrong in Washington is very appealing, particularly — especially for Republicans — if that outsider is a successful businessperson," said Todd Belt, professor and political management program director at George Washington University.
"And I believe that people are drawn to his youth and energy."
What stances does he take?
According to federal election records, Ramaswamy contributed $15 million of his own money to his campaign.
The father of two, a confident speaker who almost always seems to be grinning, emphasizes faith, family, and patriotism as the solutions to what he sees as society's problems. Despite being Hindu, he frequently emphasizes "Judeo-Christian values".
The candidate graduated from Yale Law School and attended Harvard University to study biology. Ramaswamy has also run as a unifying candidate who wants to move the Republican Party away from only airing concerns and toward finding answers.
Despite the vigor of his speech, Ramaswamy's critics claim that many of his ideas are unrealistic, if not absurd, and much outside the scope of the presidency.
He has advocated, for instance, that the voting age be increased from 18 to 25 unless young people pass a civics exam or complete a "national service requirement" by joining the military or working as emergency responders. However, a constitutional amendment would be necessary, which is improbable.
Trump skips the opening republican debate in the race for the presidency.
Additionally, he has stated that he would shut down the FBI, which is the cornerstone of federal law enforcement in the US, and have its agents incorporated into other agencies, as well as the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service, the US tax authority. That would also be a difficult task.
He is also running on a pro-fossil fuel platform at a time when the global climate catastrophe is causing wildfires and harsh weather all across the planet.
His campaign website reads, "Drill, frack, and burn coal: abandon the climate cult & unshackle nuclear energy." At the debate on Wednesday, he went even further, declaring that "the climate change agenda is a hoax."
Radical climate change policy
Ramaswamy's attitude to climate change was dubbed startling by Belt. That simply demonstrated a profound lack of grasp of the subject and a very radical policy objective, he said.
But throughout the Wisconsin debate, the crowd constantly applauded Ramaswamy, particularly when he defended Trump while criticizing his detractors, notably former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The debate winner, Vivek Ramaswamy, could benefit from a positive debate-related bounce in the polls. In a social media post, conservative journalist David Brody praised the man for being intelligent throughout and being articulate, at ease, smiling, lucid, and succinct.
Belt, however, asserts that Ramaswamy's ability to take use of the debate's format to maximize his broadcast time may have contributed to the fact that his performance garnered so much attention. Candidates who were singled out by others were given a chance to respond for 30 seconds by moderators.
Belt added that the president's comments "frankly displayed a lack of understanding of how the government functions and the powers of the presidency."
"The other contenders were attempting to expose his ignorance and, in doing so, used his name and ended up giving him more time," one candidate claimed.
The debate winner, Vivek Ramaswamy, could benefit from a positive debate-related bounce in the polls. In a social media post, conservative journalist David Brody praised the man for being intelligent throughout and being articulate, at ease, smiling, lucid, and succinct.
Belt, however, asserts that Ramaswamy's ability to take use of the debate's format to maximize his broadcast time may have contributed to the fact that his performance garnered so much attention. Candidates who were singled out by others were given a chance to respond for 30 seconds by moderators.
Belt added that the president's comments "frankly displayed a lack of understanding of how the government functions and the powers of the presidency."
"The other contenders were attempting to expose his ignorance and, in doing so, used his name and ended up giving him more time," one candidate claimed.
Foreign affairs
Ramaswamy was at the center of the most heated part of the discussion when he declared that if elected president, he would not send extra money to Ukraine.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, the US has given the nation billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid. However, Ramaswamy said that the US should concentrate on securing its own southern border and called such approach "disastrous".
He continued by criticizing former vice president Mike Pence and Christie, both of whom had traveled to Ukraine and spoken with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"I find it offensive that we have professional politicians who will make a pilgrimage to Kyiv, to their pope, Zelenskyy, without doing the same for the people in Maui or the south side of Chicago," he declared.
Nikki Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN, retaliated by charging Ramaswamy with favoring Russian President Vladimir Putin—whom she referred to as "a murderer"—over an ally of the US.
Republicans have overwhelmingly supported aid to Ukraine in Congress, but party members are divided on the subject. Ramaswamy was in the minority during the debate, yet some people will find his perspective on the issue to be favorable.
In the hours following the debate, his campaign reported to The Associated Press news agency that he had raised $450,000 in primarily small contributions.
However, he continues to raise much less money than Trump and DeSantis. According to a Friday report by ABC News, the Florida governor's campaign raised $1 million in the 24 hours that followed the debate.
Even if the discussion temporarily brought Trump's candidacy to public attention, Ramaswamy is unlikely to weaken Trump's hold on the Republican nomination.
Belt remarked, "Ramaswamy is having his moment."
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