Vivek Ramaswamy 2024 Presidential Campaign

Entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy began his 2024 presidential campaign on February 21, 2023, as a candidate in the 2024 Republican primary. If elected, he would be the first Hindu, the first Asian American and first Indian American to hold the office. Additionally, he would be the youngest person ever elected to the office.

Campaign

Ramaswamy had previously considered a candidacy in the 2022 United States Senate election in Ohio, but ultimately decided not to run. Since then, he had been named as a potential presidential candidate, and by early February, it was reported that he had begun assembling a campaign team. He formally declared his candidacy later that month in an interview on '' Tucker Carlson Tonight''.

Attempted misuse of Wikipedia

In May 2023, '' Forbes'' reported Ramaswamy had paid an editor to alter his Wikipedia page to appear more favorable to political conservatives before announcing his campaign. The paid editor removed references to his involvement with the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team and his Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans postgraduate fellowship (other editors later restored the removed content, citing the report). Paul and Daisy Soros are respectively the elder brother and sister-in-law of businessman and social activist George Soros, who has been the subject of numerous right-wing conspiracy theories.

Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed that it had paid an editor, but denied it was trying to "scrub" his Wikipedia page. A campaign spokesperson said the edits were revisions of "factual distortions" and blamed a Ron DeSantis-aligned super PAC for amplifying the story.

Criticism of lawsuits against former president Donald Trump

While some candidates, including Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, have been openly critical of former president Donald Trump throughout his ongoing legal battles, Ramaswamy has defended Trump unabashedly. When interviewed, he called Trump's indictment in ''The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump'' "a national disaster." Regarding the 2023 jury verdict against Trump for sexual abuse in '' E. Jean Carroll vs. Donald J. Trump'', Ramaswamy stated "this seems like just another part of the establishment's anaphylactic response". Following the federal indictment of Donald Trump in June 2023, Ramaswamy vowed to give Trump a presidential pardon if elected.

LinkedIn lockout

On May 17, 2023, Ramaswamy's LinkedIn account was locked for violations of LinkedIn’s user agreement. The company cited three posts where he was critical of Joe Biden, the Chinese Communist Party, and climate change. On May 24, the company issued a statement that they do not tolerate “misinformation, hate speech, violence or any form of abuse” on their platform. Ramaswamy stated that his lockout was censorship, and a showcase of “Typical Big Tech behavior: trying to cover their tracks after egregious election interference.” On May 25, the company restored his account, stating that the lockout was the result of a technical glitch, which Ramaswamy called “laughable” and “totally dishonest”.

Political positions

According to Ramaswamy, "The most fundamental divide of our time is not black vs white, gay vs straight, or even Democrat vs Republican. It is the Great Reset vs the Great Uprising. Aristocracy vs sovereignty. Self-governance vs monarchy. This is a transpartisan & transnational struggle." In his campaign announcement, Ramaswamy stated "I'm all for putting America First, but in order to put America first, we have to first rediscover what America is. And to me, those are these basic rules of the road that set this nation into motion from meritocracy to free speech, to self-governance over aristocracy."

A profile in '' The New York Times'' described Ramaswamy as an anti-woke candidate, and ''The Hill'' characterizes him as a conservative. His campaign has also been compared to Andrew Yang's 2020 presidential campaign by media outlets such as Fox News. According to a profile in '' Politico'', he was inspired by Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, and wants to run "with an entrepreneurial spirit, unorthodox ideas, and few expectations" in the hopes of building "a major following that will carry him to the presidency."

In his campaign announcement, Ramaswamy pitched himself as a conservative and argued "what the conservative movement needs to do is more than just criticize the poison that fills the void but fill the vacuum with a vision of American national identity that runs so deep that it dilutes these other religions, from wokism to Islamism." Ramaswamy later described himself as an " American nationalist".

Economic policy

Federal government reorganization

Ramaswamy argues for eight-year limits for all unelected federal bureaucrats, similar to term limits imposed on US presidents. He has also identified ten federal agencies that he would abolish, including the Department of Education.

Tax policy

Ramaswamy has indicated that he favors the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Foreign policy

China

During his campaign announcement, Ramaswamy stated that America needed a “total decoupling” from China. He has described the Chinese government as a "great existential threat" and argues China now represents a more significant threat to the sovereignty of United States than the Soviet Union had during the Cold War as America has found itself in an "economic codependent relationship" with a hostile government.

Ramaswamy also argued that America has become too economically reliant on China through being "addicted" to cheap goods and that economic separation from China would not be easy, but “some sacrifice of short-term conveniences” would be necessary for the long-term goal of reducing economic dependence on China. He has called for putting guns in "every Taiwanese household" in order to deter China from invading.

Military intervention

Ramaswamy argues that "foreign policy is all about prioritization" and that good use of the US military is "protecting American soil and American interests, not a pointless war somewhere else."

Ramaswamy argues that the United States should use the military to directly take on Mexican drug cartels and “end the fentanyl epidemic in this country." He has furthermore stated "We can do it to Bin Laden, we can do it to Soleimani, we can do it to the Mexican drug cartels south of the border."

Social policy

Affirmative action

Ramaswamy has expressed opposition to affirmative action and has proposed rescinding Lyndon B. Johnson’s Executive Order 11246.

Freedom of speech

Ramaswamy has stated that if elected president he would fight government pressures on technology companies to censor disfavored political speech. He said “As Elon Musk did at Twitter, I will release the ‘state action files’ from the federal government—publicly exposing every known instance in which bureaucrats have wrongfully pressured companies to take constitutionally prohibited actions.” He also wrote "If you can’t fire someone for being black, gay or Muslim, you shouldn’t be able to fire someone for his political speech.”

Immigration

Ramaswamy calls for a merit-based system of immigration and supports scrapping lottery-based immigration such as the Diversity Immigrant Visa. He also states America must "unapologetically" secure the southern border against illegal immigration.

Voting rights

Ramaswamy has indicated that he favors raising the voting age to 25 in most circumstances. The policy change, which would have to be done through a constitutional amendment, would only allow for citizens between 18 and 24 to vote if they are enlisted in the military, work as first-responder personnel, or pass a civics test.

Endorsements

See also

* Asian American and Pacific Islands American conservatism in the United States
* List of political editing incidents on Wikipedia

References

External links

Official siteDeclaration of Candidacy
(Form 2) at FEC.gov

{{2024 United States presidential election

Ramaswamy, Vivek
Asian conservatism in the United States
Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia