Who is 2024 GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy?
© AP Photo / Charlie Neibergall
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Following announcements from former President Donald Trump and ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in February, Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy entered the GOP 2024 presidential race as a longshot, polling initially at "zero point zero percent.”
A political novice and the youngest major Republican candidate ever, Vivek Ramaswamy first announced he would give the 2024 Republican nomination a shot in February on Tucker Carlson Tonight. He sat down with the former Fox News host again on Thursday, but now more in the status of a realistic contender whose message appears to be gaining a foothold. The statements he made were unabashed, and to the point.
The very existence of the US might be at stake in the event of a war against Russia and China, Ramaswamy told Carlson, adding:
“I think there’s a chance that if we enter war with nuclear, allied Russia and China, the United States as we know it, we may take a risk of it ceasing to exist.”
Screengrab of X post by Tucker Carlson featuring his interview with Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
© Photo : Tucker Carlson/X
On the Ukraine issue, Ramaswamy stressed that the United States should negotiate an end to the conflict, and any peace deal ought to include guarantees Kiev will not join NATO. He previously described President Volodymyr Zelensky, “in his cargo pants like the Pied Piper of Hamelin,” playing Americans for fools, having got “half the Democratic Party and three-quarters of the Republican Party eating out of his hand.”
As he proceeded to reference everything from how the “Hunter Biden's dealings” story was “systematically suppressed,” to the truth of what happened on January 6 at the Capitol, Ramaswamy claimed he would “rather lose an election than play some political snakes-and-ladders of what we're supposed to say.”
“Whatever the truth is, give me the hard truth," he said.
CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, tech billionaire Elon Musk went on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to applaud Ramaswamy’s interview with Carlson, calling him a “very promising candidate.”
X screenshot of Elon Musk post featuring Tucker Carlson interview with Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
© Photo : Elon Musk/X
Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, the ex-biotech tycoon-turned-GOP 2024 hopeful? Sputnik takes a closer look.
Where is the Ramaswamy Family From?
Ramaswamy’s parents immigrated to the US from Kerala, India. His mother, Geetha Ramaswamy, is a geriatric psychiatrist, and his father, Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy, is an engineer/patent attorney. The couple moved to Ohio after V.G. Ramaswamy got a job offer from General Electric.
Vivek was born in Ohio, Cincinnati, on August 9, 1985. He has a brother, Dr. Shankar Ramaswamy, co-founder and CEO of Kriya Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical firm involved in developing gene therapies.
Who is Vivek Ramaswamy's Wife?
Vivek Ramaswamy is married to Apoorva Tewari Ramaswamy, a Yale alumni. In fact, that is where the couple first met - at Yale. Apoorva is a laryngologist specializing in disorders of cancer patients. The couple have two small sons, Karthik and Arjun.
What Was Vivek Ramaswamy's Education?
Vivek Ramaswamy studied at the Jesuit school St. Xavier High School, and once described himself as a "skinny kid with nerdy glasses and a funny last name." The aspiring and determined young man got a biology degree at Harvard University in 2007, and then completed Yale Law School's three-year Juris Doctor (J.D.) program.
What Was Vivek Ramaswamy's Career?
Vivek co-founded the technology company Campus Venture Network – offering software and networking resources to college entrepreneurs – in 2007. Ramaswamy also did a stint with the QVT Financial investment advisor from 2007 to 2014. According to his bio, at age 28, he was made partner at the hedge fund, investing in pharmaceutical companies, as per Forbes. Vivek Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences, a pharma firm whose goal was “developing and delivering medicines to patients faster and more efficiently,” in 2014, serving as the CEO until 2021. In 2015, Vivek’s image was splashed across the cover of Forbes magazine after he was reported as raising over $350 million for a subsidiary of Roivant, Axovant Sciences. It was an attempt to prop up a failed medication for Alzheimer’s. The same drug again failed tests at Axovant in 2017. Since then, Ramaswamy has co-founded Chapter, a Medicare advisory firm, while also becoming co-founder and executive chairman of Ohio-based company Strive Asset Management.
Referring to the presidential elections of 2008, 2012, and 2016, when he did not vote, Vivek Ramaswamy has publicly described himself as having been "apolitical" at the time. By 2021, despite registering as "unaffiliated," he claims he was ready to position himself as a Republican. Ramaswamy, who cannot boast of any prior experience in the realm of politics, announced he was going to run for president in late February 2023.
What Book Did Vivek Ramaswamy Write?
Vivek Ramaswamy penned a book in 2021, titled “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam.” The publication did very well, reaching #2 on The New York Times Best Sellers list in the Hardcover Nonfiction section.
What is Vivek Ramaswamy's Net Worth?
The 2024 GOP hopeful's net worth was estimated at around $630 million in April 2023, as per Forbes, with the wealth attributed to his biotech and financial business endeavors.
What is Ramaswamy Religion?
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy claims he practices Hinduism, but has unfailingly stressed that he also shares the “same values” as Christians.
“I'm Hindu. I'm not Christian, and we are a nation founded on Judeo-Christian values."
18 August 2023, 00:00 GMT
What is Vivek Ramaswamy's Agenda?
Vivek Ramaswamy pitches himself as an “anti-woke” Republican presidential candidate. The word “Truth” appears to be pivotal to his campaigning, as evidenced by both his own statements and banners as well as signs omnipresent at his campaign events.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in Miami.
© AP Photo / Marta Lavandier
"I think we now live in a moment where the government and the broader establishment in our country believe that citizens of this nation can not be trusted with the truth," Ramaswamy said recently.
As he addressed the crowd at the Iowa State Fair on August 12, Ramaswamy made these "truths" explicitly clear, stressing that "God is real," "Parents should determine the education of their children," "Capitalism lifts people up from poverty," "Fossil fuels are requirements for human prosperity," etc.
X post by Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
© Photo : Vivek Ramaswamy/X
Ramaswamy has been always eager to underline that he is "proudly aligned" with Moms for Liberty, a conservative social welfare non-profit, which actively opposes "woke" cancel culture and the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools.
Incidentally, Ramaswamy, a Trump supporter who stood outside the courthouse during cases being filed against the 45th POTUS and vowed to pardon him if elected, was asked if he would agree to run for vice president if the GOP nomination went south. Ramaswamy said "no," joking that Trump might do "pretty well" as his own VP.
How is Ramaswamy Doing in the Polls?
At the start of his campaign, Vivek Ramaswamy joked that he was polling, “not just at zero percent, but at zero point zero percent.” But since then, he has notched up in the polls. A recent national average from FiveThirtyEight.com showed him hovering in third place with 6.7 percent of support, trailing former President Donald Trump, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. A Morning Consult poll suggested Ramaswamy had drummed up at eight percent support. The same survey showed Donald Trump garnering 59 percent, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 16 percent. Another poll, from GOP firm Cygnal, even placed Ramaswamy in second position in the race, with the support of 11 percent of Republican voters.
In any case, Vivek Ramaswamy is set to walk out onto the debate stage in Milwaukee for the first time on August 23, hoping to capitalize on the momentum he's gained ahead of further campaigning.
