I remember watching Vivek Ramaswamy announcing his presidential bid on Tucker Carlson’s now canceled Fox News show earlier this year. It was teased as a “big announcement,” but it didn’t seem all that big to me. Who the hell was this guy? I had seen him before in interviews on various conservative media outlets. Uber-rich tech bro sees the light and decides to sell his companies so he could better fight the system from the outside, or something. He had a way with words, but at the same time I always thought something was a bit off. Why not fight the ‘system’ from, you know, the INSIDE, where you can have more effect, especially if you own the freaking company? But whatever. Dude struck me as articulate, intelligent, and based, so I didn’t really have a problem with him. I mean, if you’re against the ‘woke’ cult, you’re probably going to be good in my book.
But president of the United States? This was a joke, right? Why not start somewhere smaller, like senator, representative, or, I don’t know, city councilman? Constable? Dog catcher? Sure, being 37 and a birth citizen means he constitutionally ‘qualifies’ based on a statute laid out when life expectancy was much, much lower than it is today, but does the fact that Republicans just nominated one rich businessman with no political experience mean we automatically have to keep doing it?
Despite his smarminess and off putting snake-oil salesman vibe, one thing Vivek has always had going for him is his ability to articulately lay out his positions. The man is clearly smart and well spoken, and for what it’s worth, his technical delivery is much smoother than any politician currently running. However, though his take on many issues is spot on and has garnered him some degree of support, there are red flags there as well, such as his desire to increase legal immigration, allow transgenders in the military, and reenter the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Hardly ‘America First.’
For months, as expected, I didn’t hear much of Ramaswamy’s candidacy other than catching the occasional soundbyte. But then, in June, he traveled down to Miami to personally protest the latest Trump indictment. It seemed a strange thing for a presidential candidate to do. Sure, express your disgust at a politicized Department of Justice, but a personal, bullhorn-in-tow protest right in front of the courthouse, aided by none other than Trump sycophant Laura Loomer? It seemed fishy and weird, and a shameless grab for attention.
Then, Ramaswamy began to supposedly rise in the polls. But which polls? There’s Kaplan, where Vivek made recent headlines by supposedly tying Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place at 12%. Except, Kaplan has zero credibility for a multitude of reasons, none of which are going to be pointed out by the Ramaswamy and Trump supporters pushing this narrative. Then there’s Harvard Harris, run by Hillary Clinton’s pollster, which pegs Ramaswamy at 10% but also seems to consistently believe nonsense like Trump beating Biden in a general election by winning GenZ and women voters.
Credible polling, like the most recent one from Marquette Law School, has Trump at 46% nationwide, DeSantis at 22%, and Ramaswamy all the way back at 1%. All other major polls have Vivek between 1% and 6%, with DeSantis a solid second behind Trump. In reality, the Ramaswamy candidacy is a mirage, and any hope that this guy could somehow become president of the United States is a pipe dream akin to that of Democrats who thought they could elect Andrew Yang in 2020.
Add all the other red flags to the mix - like his Soros Fellowship, his 2021 selection as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, his companies’ partnership with Chinese firms, his business ties to Pfizer, his advocacy of mRNA shots and masks as late as January 2022, and especially the fact that he literally paid someone to scrub much of that information from his Wikipedia page before announcing his run - and the suspicion only increases.
So why is Vivek running anyway? Given his already documented sycophantism towards Trump and the fact that he generally has refused to take on the former president directly or even be mildly critical - even though he knows full well that he’d have to ultimately beat Trump to secure the nomination - it’s hard to imagine it’s not for one or both of the following reasons: 1.) To raise his profile and secure some sort of post in the upcoming administration. 2.) To pave the way for a Trump defeat of DeSantis.
Bottom line, whether Donald Trump wins the primary and manages to pull off a miracle win in the general or does as predicted and loses bigly, Vivek Ramaswamy wins with, at a minimum, a massive profile increase. But, given the odds, the country loses in a massive way.
This candidacy was dead on arrival from that first moment on Tucker Carlson’s show. Stop giving it life. If you were inclined to support Vivek because of the articulate way he laid out a few of your positions, please know that supporting ANY candidate besides Ron DeSantis - the only person with any shot at taking down Trump - is essentially a vote for Trump, and that, given the November 2024 odds, a vote for Trump is essentially a vote for Joe Biden and the final leftist takeover of America.