Vivek Ramaswamy, at 37 years old, is the first ever millennial Republican presidential candidate. He graduated from Harvard, then Yale Law School, and worked as a partner at a hedge fund before starting a successful biotech company, where he made millions.
It’s an impressive background. But he lacks any political experience, so he’s not someone pundits think has a shot in the already crowded GOP primary field. And yet, somehow, his name is in the news almost every single day. His tweets are constantly going viral. And recent polling suggests that he’s hitting a nerve with the American people: it’s only August and Vivek is polling in third place, ahead of established politicians and a former vice president.
On today’s show, Vivek explains he thinks he can win the nomination and the presidency—by beating Trump by going further than Trump, and by being a kind of Trump 2.0. He talks about why he thinks we’ve lost our soul as a nation, and why he thinks we need a “second American revolution.” And—from immigration to foreign policy to dismantling the Department of Education—what a President Ramaswamy, with all of his radical proposals, would do for the country.
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Was kind of looking forward to this. I didn't have a particularly good impression of Vivek, but recognized that I didn't know enough about him and was curious. Listened to the first 40 minutes thinking "yea, but what do you actually want to do?" Then we got to Ukraine. I have now officially crossed Vivek off my list. Bari, your pushback was spot on. And Vivek is no Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan would wretch listening to him on foreign affairs.
I've been impressed with Vivek for quite some time now, way before he decided to run for POTUS. He is the future, I think. But I think Bari has a wee bit of the TDS. I just think she, like so many, can't see why Trump resonates with so many people because she can't see who Trump actually is. Not to say he's perfect or "good" or anything like that, but the idea that he has normalized bigotry and racism is, I think, off base.