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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
78 October/November 2023 October/November 2023 PB
The books, tennis and
money make him just short
of interesting, and now he
could be President, one day
O
n February 21, 2023, Vivek
Ramaswamy declared his candidacy
for theRepublican nomination for
president of the United States in
2024on‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’.
He vies with gormless Ron de Santis to be
second favourite for the Republican nomination,
though he has let early momentum falter and
having peaked at 15/1 for the Presidency after
the first Republican debate is now back to 18/1
following the second one.
Ramaswamy was born in Cincinatti to Tamil-
speakingBrahminsfromKerala, India, was a
nationally ranked high-school tennis player and
the valedictorian of his Jesuit high school. He
graduated summa cum laude in Biology from
Harvard and received his Doctorate in Law from
Yale, while working at a hedge fund. He then
started a biotech company, Roivant Sciences,
where he oversaw the development of five drugs
that went on to become FDA-approved.
In 2022, he founded Strive, an Ohio-based
asset management firm that directly competes
with asset managers like BlackRock, State
Street, Vanguard and others, who use the money
of everyday citizens to advance environmental
and social agendas that many citizens and
capital owners disagree with. In August
2023, Forbes estimated Ramaswamy’s net
worth at more than $950million.
Ramaswamy is married to Apoorva, a throat
surgeon. They live in Columbus, Ohio with their
two sons.
He often recounts the corny advice from his
father: “If you’re going to stand out, then you
might as well be outstanding”, He calls the
advice “sage”.
He’s written two books in the last two years.
In just-published ‘Nation of Victims: Identity
Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back
to Excellence’, Ramaswamy finds victim
narratives all over the US. Whereas Americans
once took pride in their ability to overcome long
odds, now they believe stories about “what
theycan’tdo”, from racial minorities living in
immiserated towns to southerners lamenting
the lost Confederacy to aspiring college
students eagerly rehearsing sob stories with
admissions counsellors. Inhis first book,‘Woke,
Inc: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice
Scam’, Ramaswamy had identified corporate
political activism — in the form of restrictive
speech-policing in the workplace, censorship by
tech companies that control our communication,
and investment firms’ growing interest in goals
other than financial returns — as a scandalous
source of political dysfunction.
The books, tennis and money make him just
short of interesting, and now he could be
President, one day.
Ramaswamy excelled himself in the first
Republican debate in August. Observers were
largely surprised with Ramaswamy’s
performance and that he, not then poll-leader
DeSantis, was the target of attacks by other
candidates; attacks centred on his lack of
political experience and his promise to grant
apresidential pardonto Trump.
His bravura closing statement climaxed with:
“God is real. There are two genders. Fossil fuels
are a requirement for human prosperity. Reverse
racism is racism. An open border is not a border.
Parents determine the education of their
children. The nuclear family is the greatest form
of governance known to man. Capitalism lifts us
up from poverty”.
During the second Republican debate in late
September he underperformed, for example
By Suzie Mélange
when asked why he should be president,
acknowledging that some might view him as a
“know-it-all”; but admitting he didn’t know
everything and would have to seek advice from
others. Nikki Haley dissed him: “Honestly, every
time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what
you say”. He may be a moron but he’s a good
debater. At one stage Ramaswamy zinged
“Thank you for speaking while I’m interrupting”
at Tim Scott.
The aected humility failed to convince given
his general behaviour throughout the race.
He maintained his lack of empathy:
“Transgenderism is a mental health disorder. We
have to acknowledge the truth of that for what it
is. It is not compassionate to arm a kid’s
confusion. That is not compassion. That is
cruelty”.
He has called theLGBTQ movementa “cult”
though he concedes same-sex marriage is
“settled precedent”. Abortion, for him, is
murder. He says he would fire 75% of federal
employees. He denies he is aclimate denier and
squares that with a belief that “the climate
change agenda is a hoax” and that we should
be proud to burn fossil fuels. He has asked
whether federal agents were on the planes that
hit the Twin Towers on 9/11 and says fellow
conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy would
make a good Vice-President. He would
allowRussia to occupy regions of Ukraineso
long as it ended its alliance with China. He is
always and everywhere the ultimate ideologue
for example he is enjoying the vicious removal
o House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy: “The point
of removing the House Speaker was to sow
chaos. And my advice to the people who voted
to remove him is own it”.
Ramaswamy said that he voted for
the Libertarian Party presidential nominee
in 2004 but failed to vote in 2008, 2012,
or2016. He voted Donald Trumpin 2020. He is
the embodiment of Trump, though — unlike the
master — he raps and is bu enough to allow
himself to be videoed shirtless playing tennis.
He fawns over Trump, and may make it as his
Vice, if the former President survives his legal
battles and triumphs over his older adversary
next year. At 38, Ramaswamy is just under half
Trump’s age. And, remarkably, it shows.
Vivectomy
needed
Vivek Ramaswamy is here
Not hot
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