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Vivek Ramaswamy

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And my question for you is, of all the Democratic candidates out there, why should I vote for the one with the least political experience?
—Ramaswamy in 2003, asking 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton.[1]

Vivek Ramaswamy (1985–) is an American fraudulent businessman[2] and Republican presidential candidate who announced the start of his campaign in February 2023.[3]

He’s well known for being an unoriginal and uninspiring Republican politician with always repeating platitudes, such as him decrying climate change as “a hoax” and attempts to fix climate change as “climatism”.[4]

Background and alleged fraud[edit]

In his businessman days, he created a company which developed an Alzheimer drug, which studies showed didn't fucking work.[2]

His weird relationships with Jews[edit]

In 2011, Ramaswamy was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship from the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, which enabled him to attend Yale Law School.[5] This information was deleted and restored from Wikipedia, and considered by Wikipedia editors to be whitewashing by an editor paid by the Ramaswamy presidential campaign.[6] While at Yale, Ramaswamy joined a Jewish secret society, Shabtai,[7] which is open to people of other religions.[8] These two facts alone (George Soros money and belonging to a Jewish secret society) would normally set off alarm bells in the far-right elements of the GOP: QAnon, conspiracy theorists and other antisemites.

To his credit, Ramaswamy has spoken out against antisemitism,[7] but on the other hand he has baselessly accused (Jewish) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of mistreating Jews, has strongly attacked a Florida law that penalizes antisemitic acts (passed by Governor Ron DeSantis), and wants to repeal US Executive Order 11246 that bans "federal contractors from engaging in employment discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, or national origin."[9] Ramaswamy wants to end financial aid to Israel by 2028, imagining that it will be unnecessary by presumably because there will miraculously be peace in the Middle East. Ramaswamy also wants to end humanitarian aid to Palestinians.[9]

Highlights of his campaign[edit]

  • His Hindu background has caused many on the Christian nationalist right to not want to support him[10] despite him also constantly trying to court those exact voters with his appeals to claims of "Judeo-Christian values".[11]
  • He paid Wikipedia editors[12] to edit his page specifically to remove his connections to George Soros and his role in the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team.[13]
  • He has called for the repealing of the twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution and the raising of the voting age to twenty-five.[14] Later he added the qualification that people between eighteen and twenty-four would be allowed to vote on the condition they're in the military, work as a first responder, or pass the civics test required for naturalization.[15] It is pathetically obvious he is calling for this because of the role young voters played in stopping the "red wave" of 2022 that many on the right predicted.[16]
  • He got banned from Linkedln due to violating the website's policy on misinformation and hate speech.[17]
  • He got called "Alex Jones 2.0" by Alex Jones himself,[18] who has also called him "a cross between Steven Crowder and Alex Jones.”[19]
  • He got hit with a Cease and Desist from Eminem over using his song "Lose Yourself" at a campaign rally.[20]
  • On social media, he has been nickmaned "VivekGPT" in reference to ChatGPT, with criticism of his "ever-shifting answers" as being reminiscent of the chatbot.[21] This was obviously inspired by Chris Christie calling him "a guy who sounds like ChatGPT" in the first GOP primary debate.[22]
  • On the debate stage, he called the "climate change agenda" a "hoax".[23]

Flip-flops[edit]

Those who have followed Vivek for awhile know that he cannot be bothered to keep any kind of consistent position. One rather telling example was when he called for the abolition of Juneteenth two months after posting a video of him celebrating it.[24]

Another flip-flop comes in the form of his comments on January 6th. Previously, he acknowledged it was Donald Trump's fault for the actions of that day and praised Mike Pence for not attempting to overturn the election. Now, he believes Donald Trump was not responsible for the storming of the Capitol, and that Mike Pence didn't engage in a "historic opportunity."[25]

Stopped clock[edit]

Ramaswamy has refused to give into the typical Republican framing on the estate tax, instead viewing it as a good way to stop a "hereditary aristocracy" from forming through parents passing excessive wealth to their children.[26]

Ramaswamy has called for the federal legalization of marijuana[27] along with the decriminalization of certain drugs that have been shown to help veterans who suffer from PTSD.[28]

Ramaswamy has also stated that America should not continue delivering aid to Israel, although he later walked back on this stance after being mocked by neoconservative Republicans. He also opposes American military action against Iran.[29]

References[edit]

  1. 20-Year-Old Clip Of Ramaswamy Resurfaces In Which He Asks Presidential Candidate, ‘Why Should I Vote For the One With the Least Political Experience?’
  2. 2.0 2.1 Vivek Ramaswamy Is a Fraud—and Always Has Been by Sam Nunberg (9/1/23 at 2:12 PM EDT ) Newsweek.
  3. A Wealthy ‘Anti-Woke’ Activist Joins the 2024 Presidential Field
  4. https://heated.world/p/how-vivek-ramaswamy-makes-money-from
  5. Vivek Ramaswamy Campaign Insists Wikipedia Revisions Weren’t A ‘Scrub’: Senior adviser Tricia McLaughlin told HuffPost, "All of this information is Googleable." by David Moye (May 4, 2023, 01:00 PM EDT) HuffPost.
  6. Talk:Vivek Ramaswamy#paid editor tag? (August 2023) Wikipedia.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Ramaswamy: ‘I want to go even further than Trump on the Abraham Accords’: The entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate also told JNS that far-left ideology has caused rising antisemitism. by Bradley Martin (July 31, 2023) Jewish News Syndicate.
  8. See the Wikipedia article on Shabtai.
  9. 9.0 9.1 6 Jewish facts about GOP hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, who proposes cut to Israel funding: Biotech mogul and would-be presidential candidate panned Florida law against antisemitism, was in Jewish society at Yale, and suggested Ukraine’s Zelensky is mistreating Jews by Andrew Lapin (23 August 2023, 10:39 am) The Times of Israel.
  10. Vivek Ramaswamy Is On the Rise. So Are Christian Nationalist Attacks on His Religion
  11. Vivek Ramaswamy Leans Into His Hindu Faith to Court Christian Voters
  12. See the Wikipedia talk page on its article on him,Wikipedia which mentions more than one paid editor.
  13. Vivek Ramaswamy Paid To Get Soros Connection Erased From Wikipedia Page: Report
  14. Vivek Ramaswamy wants to raise the voting age. Even his staff doesn’t like the idea.
  15. Ramaswamy proposes raising voting age to 25, unless people serve in military or pass a test
  16. Midterm exit polls show that young voters drove Democratic resistance to the ‘red wave’
  17. Vivek Ramaswamy’s LinkedIn Lockout
  18. Alex Jones calls Vivek Ramaswamy “Alex Jones 2.0”
  19. On YouTube, Alex Jones claims “Vivek Ramaswamy ... sounds like a cross between Steven Crowder and Alex Jones”
  20. Vivek Ramaswamy Hit With Cease and Desist From Eminem
  21. "Vivek Ramaswamy dubbed ‘VivekGPT’ as critics highlight tech entrepreneur’s ever-shifting answers", Marlon Ettinger, Aug 22, 2023, Daily Dot
  22. "Chris Christie Compares Vivek Ramaswamy to ChatGPT & Obama" NowThis News, August 24, 2023.
  23. Vivek Ramaswamy calls climate change agenda a ‘hoax’ during debate, Kelly Garrity, Politico 23 August 2023
  24. Vivek Ramaswamy calls Juneteenth 'useless' 2 months after posting a video celebrating it
  25. Flip Flop: Vivek Ramaswamy Once Praised Mike Pence For His Actions on January 6, Now He Says He ‘Missed’ A ‘Historic Opportunity’
  26. Vivek Ramaswamy’s Rise in 2024 Field Brings Scrutiny Beyond Anti-Woke Record
  27. Vivek Ramaswamy Tells Bill Maher 'It's A Joke' That Cannabis Is Not Legal Nationwide
  28. Trump Opponent Vivek Ramaswamy Favors Federal Marijuana Legalization, Is Polling Third Behind Ron DeSantis
  29. https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-08-31/ty-article/.premium/vivek-ramaswamy-in-favor-of-ending-israel-aid-opposes-u-s-military-force-against-iran/0000018a-4cb6-d775-a79a-5db7ae130000