Who Is Vivek Ramaswamy, the New Guy Running Against Trump?

There had been some rumblings weeks ago that Vivek Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive and co-founder of Strive Asset Management, would be launching a campaign for the 2024 Republican nomination.

On Tuesday, Ramaswamy made it official and declared himself a candidate.

Ramaswamy has built up a reputation for himself as the “anti-woke” and has been an ardent opponent of the left-wing drift away from capitalism that the United States has been on for several decades. With a net worth somewhere north of $600 million as of 2016, Ramaswamy could easily self-fund a primary campaign and spend the money to build out his name recognition.

In some ways, think of him as something like an Andrew Yang of the GOP, although even Yang has since removed himself from the left-wing woke causes of the Democratic Party.

Here’s a bit of background on the campaign launch via a report from CBS News:

Vivek Ramaswamy, a wealthy former biotech executive, jumped into the Republican presidential race Tuesday night, announcing his candidacy in a video released on Twitter and with an appearance on Fox News.

The 37-year-old Ramaswamy is running his longshot campaign as an “anti-woke” capitalist who opposes what he considers liberal “woke” indoctrination in corporate investment based on E.S.G., or environmental, societal and governance principles. Ramaswamy has written two books, including “Woke, Inc” — a popular text in conservative circles due to its push to bring a culture war to the corporate world.

“We’re in the middle of a national identity crisis. Faith, patriotism and hard work have disappeared,” Ramaswamy said in his announcement video. “We hunger to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Yet we can’t even answer the question of what it means to be an American.”

There will be much written about Ramaswamy but here’s an interview he did as part of his campaign launch Tuesday night on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show:

One could perhaps describe Ramaswamy as a “bomb thrower” in the way he lobs stinging attacks against the left-wing orthodoxy that has invaded modern politicians and the modern Democratic Party. As he mentions in the clip above, Ramaswamy would like to do away with all the ways that government tips the scales based on skin color or ethnicity and bring back the days of the most common and unifying parts of the American ideal.

Railing against “diversity” as some kind of standalone asset that makes America great, Ramaswamy argues vehemently that diversity alone is simply an attribute, not a unifying trait surrounding the common belief of freedom, liberty, and opportunity that binds a nation together.

It’s a laudable goal and Ramaswamy is a great orator and speaker for the cause but he likely won’t be able to build a sizable backing for a presidential run. He’s a compelling individual with a great life story and an American success to be sure.

Ramaswamy’s campaign is serious enough that he’s already made visits to Iowa and other early primary states before his announcement.

If he can’t raise his profile, however, and start popping up in some GOP primary polls, he’ll never make it to a debate stage this fall.