Indian-American Republican Vivek Ramaswamy may run for US presidency

Indian-American Republican and millionaire businessman Vivek Ramaswamy hopes to announce his 2024 presidential bid, joining Nikki Haley, who will launch her campaign on Wednesday.

Ramaswamy, 37, dubbed by the New Yorker magazine as the CEO of Anti-Woke Inc, has embarked on test runs and fact-finding missions in Iowa where he is addressing multiple events.

Ramaswamy insisted that his trip to Iowa and other preparatory work he is doing for a potential run were serious, the Politico reported on Monday. He was quoted as saying: “This is not a play for attention.”

Wokeism

He is exploring a run for president, testing, among other things, if his warnings about the dangers of wokeism and socially-responsible investing has political acceptability with Republican politicians, business leaders and farmers.

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“Ramaswamy doesn’t necessarily want to run on his businessman track record. Instead, he is planning to launch an ideas-based campaign focused on revitalising the American spirit and bringing back a culture of merit into society,” the report said.

Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati to Indian immigrants. His father was a General Electric engineer and his mother a geriatric psychiatrist.

Personal wealth

He attended Harvard and Yale universities and is worth reportedly in excess of USD 500 million, enough to seed his campaign through the key early states.

He made his name first by becoming a successful biotech entrepreneur and developing medicines, including five drugs that became FDA-approved.

“I believe that I’ve developed a vision for American national identity that I have deep conviction for and is the product of my own journey of having lived the gifts that this country has afforded me,” he was quoted as saying.

(With Agency inputs)