GOP 2024 Debate: Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy is 'rookie', says former Vice Prez Pence

Vivek Ramaswamy. File Pic

Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy, the youngest Presidential candidate from the Republican Party, grabbed eyes throughout the first 2024 GOP debate held at Milwaukee on August 23. The tech entrepreneur faced criticism from fellow candidates. Ramaswamy, however, said that those remarks were "a badge of honour", stated reports.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum were on the stage apart from Ramaswamy.

The 38-year-old Indian-American candidate has been garnering support by positioning himself as an outsider to politics like Trump. During the debate he said that he is the "only candidate who has not been bought".

Criticism against Ramaswamy

Former Vice President Pence launched a scathing attack against Ramaswamy calling him a "rookie". "We don't need to bring in a rookie," Pence said. Drawing attention to Ramaswamy's recent statement saying a president can't do everything, Pence said, "The president of the USA has to confront every crisis facing the country," while alluding to his experience.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie too took a shot at Ramaswamy and called him a guy who sounds like ChatGPT and labelled him "amateur" Barack Obama. Christie, 60, on Wednesday, said, "Hold on, I've had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT." His remarks came after Ramaswamy said that Climate Change is a hoax.

The other Indian-American in the fray, Nikki Haley, also criticised him. She accused him of supporting America's foreign adversaries and abandoning the allies after his comment on Russo-Ukraine war. He reportedly said he would not support Ukraine in the war against Russia.
What did Ramaswamy say?

"I'm the only person on the stage who isn't bought and paid for so I can say this: The climate change agenda is a hoax. And the reality is the anti-carbon agenda is the wet blanket on our economy. And so the reality is more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate," a report in ANI quoted Ramaswamy saying.

"Unlock American energy, drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear. Put people back to work by no longer paying them more to stay at home. Reform the US Fed, stabilise the US dollar and go to war. The only war that I will declare as US president will be the war on the federal administrative state that is the source of those toxic regulations, acting like a wet blanket on the economy," he added.

He later said, "I'll tell you, I'm not a politician. You're right about that. I'm an entrepreneur. My parents came to this country with no money 40 years ago. I have gone on to found multi-billion dollar companies. That is the American dream. And I am genuinely worried that that American dream will not exist for our two sons and their generation unless we do something about it."

Who is Vivek Ramaswamy?

Ramaswamy, a native of Southwest Ohio, was born to immigrant parents. His mother was a geriatric psychiatrist and his father an engineer at General Electric. His parents moved to the US from Kerala.

Ramaswamy and two other Indian-Americans, Haley & Hirsh Vardhan Singh, will be up against former President Donald Trump in the primaries in January, 2024.

Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and led the largest biotech IPOs of 2015 and 2016, eventually culminating in successful clinical trials in multiple disease areas that led to FDA-approved products, according to his bio posted on his website.

(With inputs from Agencies)