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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Much of what VR says I agree with but for me other things rule him out completely. His defense of Trump seems like pandering to the base - not authentic. If nothing else, Trump has made it clear he’s completely unfit and VR shouldn’t be giving him a pass just because Trump was dogged by bogus oppo research. Trump made bad choices. I heard the recording of the phone call with Brad Raffensburger where Trump tried to badger him into faking 11k votes. Open and shut to me whether or not there’s a conviction. VR soils himself by putting blame on censorship instead. I disagree about Ukraine also. As Bari puts it a large not-free country invades a smaller more free country and also targets hospitals and schools. Any sense of justice requires we do something about it. “Not my problem” is not acceptable to me even when you frame it by saying we shouldn’t be the world’s police. That kinda ignores the fact there are bad actors in the world and someone has to oppose them. VR seems a very smart guy but that’s not everything.
Vivek Ramaswamy is a brilliant extemporaneous expositor. He has an amazing intellect, but brilliance does not guarantee that someone could be an excellent president. Ronald Reagan was far from brilliant but he was an excellent president. Reagan had the good sense to surround himself with smart people and take their counsel. Trump barely had a pilot light for an intellect but was so pathetically narcissistic that he could take no counsel.
In Bari Weiss, VIvek has met his match in dissecting nuance and double talk in his discourse; Vivek has the disposition of a Ted Talk motivational speaker. His cadence is exhausting. He demonstrates artful, verbal calisthenics and great confidence in his own intellectual abilities, but he is unable to recognize that true street smarts are not learned in school. Also, a president cannot be Boy/Girl Scout and needs to be able to go toe to toe with capable sociopaths who lead other countries.
Like many successful wunderkinds, he has never known true adversity or human struggle. He is first generation from India, born to educated and higher caste parents who emigrated with excellent prospects. He lacks the humility learned from living at the bottom of social pyramid. His intense adulation of American values seems almost like a well rehearsed affectation……and the rapping?!!! Please don’t rap Vivek; it’s not presidential. The rapping doesn’t win you any street cred outside of Harvard Yard.
His views on the FBI, DOJ, and Ukraine are worrisome. He clearly believes himself to be an expert in everything. I might agree with his position on raising the voting age and to require a standardized civics curriculum in high schools. Too many voters have a deficient fund of knowledge about history and issues. It has made me question universal suffrage. Vivek might make an interesting advisor to a conservative president.