Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian-American businessman, has ventured into the realm of politics and captured attention, with some polls ranking him as the second most popular Republican candidate, following former President Donald Trump. Despite his Hindu background, he espouses “Christian values” and criticizes secularism. He embraces anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, opposes abortion, and advocates for anti-climate change policies.
Early Life and Education
Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1985 to Indian Hindu immigrant parents. He was raised in a highly educated family, with his father being an engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology and his mother a psychologist who graduated from the University of Missouri.
His family roots trace back to the Indian state of Kerala, belonging to the Brahmin community, and speak the Tamil language. Despite their Hindu faith, the family upheld their religious rituals in Ohio, often taking their son to the local Hindu temple in Dayton. Ramaswamy spent his summer vacations in India with his parents.
Playing the piano was one of Ramaswamy’s hobbies during elementary school, but his talent shone brighter in playing tennis during high school, becoming a nationally ranked player at that time.
Academic and Scientific Background
Ramaswamy attended the Catholic-affiliated St. Xavier High School, graduating with honors in 2003. He pursued biology at Harvard University, graduating with honors in 2007. Known among his peers for his “liberated and bold personality,” he was a member and later the president of the Harvard Political Union. He also received the distinguished Bowdoin Prize for students. During his college years, he affiliated with the Libertarian Party, dedicated to free-market principles and minimal government intervention, ranking third among the American political parties.
In 2011, Ramaswamy obtained a fellowship for legal studies at Yale University. Remarkably, during his early life, he amassed wealth from his ventures in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields, with his net worth reaching approximately 15 million dollars by 2023.
Ideology
Later, Ramaswamy aligned himself with the Republicans, gaining a favorable reputation, particularly after publishing a book in 2021 criticizing companies that revolve their strategies around “social justice issues and climate change.” He also condemned their undermining of “capitalism, struggle, belief, and nationalism.”
Many consider him a miniature version of Trump, as he believes America suffers from an “identity crisis,” a sentiment reminiscent of Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again.”
His upbringing significantly shaped his ideology, as he perceives the continuation of American leadership and individual success to hinge fundamentally on a “stable family.” He believes that Democrats do not support achieving this goal.
Investment Ventures
Ramaswamy engaged in various business activities early in his life, aiding in amassing a fortune worth millions of dollars. In 2007, he participated in founding “Campus Venture Network,” designing a social media platform for university students aspiring to launch business projects.
He also worked at the hedge fund “QVT” between 2007 and 2014. Afterwards, he established the biotechnology company “Roivant Sciences,” securing nearly 100 million dollars in initial capital from “QVT” and other investors. The company’s strategy at that time involved acquiring patents from major pharmaceutical companies that had not been successfully developed and preparing them for sale in the markets.
The company established several subsidiaries, including “Dermavant,” focusing on dermatological diseases, “Urovant” focusing on urological diseases, “Sinovant,” and “Sitovant,” headquartered in China, focusing on the Asian market.
In 2015, Ramaswamy appeared on the cover of the renowned Forbes magazine, stating that his company “would achieve the highest return on investment ever in the pharmaceutical industry.” He rapidly raised the market value of the company to nearly 3 billion dollars, despite having only 8 employees, including his brother and mother.
In early 2022, Ramaswamy, along with a friend, founded “Strive Asset Management” to manage assets, supported by Republican funders. The company managed to raise around 20 million dollars from external investors. Ramaswamy served as the CEO before resigning in February 2023 to focus on his presidential campaign.
Presidential Campaign
Ramaswamy’s political interests were not prominent earlier, as he refrained from voting in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential elections, describing himself as non-political during that period. However, in 2020, Ramaswamy supported Trump in the elections and later identified himself as a “Republican.”
Although he did not hold political positions earlier, he contributed to supporting both Democrats and Republicans. In 2016, he donated $2700 to the Democratic congresswoman Dina Grayson’s campaign in Florida. Between 2020 and 2023, he contributed $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party.
On February 21, 2023, Ramaswamy announced his candidacy for the US presidential election in 2024 as a Republican. As a first step, he publicly released his individual income tax returns for 20 years and called on his competitors in the primary elections to do the same.
However, on January 15, 2024, Ramaswamy withdrew from the race for the Republican nomination in the presidential elections after facing defeat in the Iowa Republican primary elections.
Ramaswamy endorsed Trump, who was competing against Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida and former US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley. The majority of funds raised for his campaign targeted right-wing evangelical Christian and nationalist voters, who are an essential part of the Republican base, particularly since some are hesitant or unwilling to support a non-Christian presidential candidate like Ramaswamy.
During his election campaign, Ramaswamy criticized secularism, stating that the United States was founded on “Christian values” or “Judeo-Christian values,” emphasizing that he shares those values and believes in one God.
Ramaswamy also dubbed himself the “brave American nationalist,” frequently attacking his Republican opponent
DeSantis but avoiding direct criticism of Trump.
“The brave American nationalist” was not the only title Ramaswamy bestowed upon himself; he also named himself “the scientist,” claiming that he contributed to developing numerous pharmaceuticals. However, this assertion sparked criticism as, despite studying biology, he is not a scientist but rather a financier and businessman in the biotechnology industry.
Ramaswamy was also subject to criticism during his election campaign for paying an editor to alter his Wikipedia biography before declaring his candidacy, although he denied that this edit was politically motivated and described it as a mere review to correct some facts.
Ramaswamy’s Political Stances
Although Trump is considered Ramaswamy’s competitor for the Republican nomination for 2024, he stands as one of the former president’s most prominent supporters. While he condemned the January 6, 2020 attack carried out by Trump’s supporters on the Capitol building in protest of the presidential election results, he also stated that banning Trump from social media violated the First Amendment of the Constitution. Ramaswamy also defended Trump after federal criminal charges were brought against him in 2023.
Before dropping out of the race, Ramaswamy pledged to pardon Trump if elected president, along with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Ross Ulbricht, accused of facilitating drug sales online, and Edward Snowden, who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency.
He opposes abortion, describing it as a “murder,” and supports a state-level ban on abortion with exceptions for rape, incest, and endangerment to the woman’s life, but opposes a federal ban. He declared that he would revoke birthright citizenship if elected president.
Ramaswamy also uses a discourse against transgender individuals and supports broad restrictions on the rights of transgender Americans.
He pledged to dismiss 75% of federal employees and cancel at least five federal agencies, including the Department of Education, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Food and Nutrition Service under the US Department of Agriculture.
Ramaswamy also labeled the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as “corrupt,” vowing to expose and dismantle it. He described the climate change agenda as a “hoax,” stating that global climate change is not entirely bad, and people should be proud of living a high-carbon lifestyle.
He pledged to use the military to combat Mexican drug cartels and stated a preference for federal legalization of marijuana.
On the international front, Ramaswamy leans toward offering “major concessions to Russia” in the war with Ukraine. He prefers ending US military aid to Kyiv, removing it from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and allowing Russia to occupy areas in Ukraine in exchange for Moscow terminating its alliance with China.
He expressed support for Taiwan’s independence and proposed the idea of “putting a weapon in every Taiwanese home” to deter a Chinese invasion. However, he stated that the United States should not militarily defend Taiwan against any Chinese attack.
The above is a comprehensive and accurate translation of the original Arabic news article, presenting the content in a format suitable for English-speaking audiences.
