Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is thinking about running for the presidency in 2024.
Previously labeled by The New Yorker as the “CEO of Anti-Woke Inc.,” Ramaswamy spoke at a dinner event in Iowa last month to test whether his warnings about the woke resonated with Republicans as he explores a run for president, according to a report published by Politico.
“Ramaswamy has a theory for how this will all go. He wants to pull off what Donald Trump did in 2016: enter the race with an entrepreneurial spirit, unorthodox ideas, and few expectations, and end up developing a major following that will carry him to the presidency — even if it seems like a long shot at the moment,” the report explained.
Politico pointed out “making a fortune in biotech investing is different than glad-handing with Iowa small business owners or withstanding a barrage of attacks from Trump.”
According to the report, Ramaswamy showed at the dinner with farmers “both the promise he’d bring to the field and the difficulties he’d encounter in trying to stand out among a crowd of former cabinet officials and sitting governors.”
While speaking to the crowd, Ramaswamy said, “We were taught that you satisfy a moral hunger by going to Ben and Jerry’s and ordering a cup of ice cream with some social justice sprinkles on top.”
He added, “But we’ve learned in the last couple of years that you cannot satisfy that moral hunger with fast food. And the good news is I think we’re getting hungry again. And I think there’s an opportunity to fill that hunger with something deeper.”
Stay tuned… https://t.co/whdoVFQqRZ
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) February 13, 2023
While Politico reported Ramaswamy received a “warm response,” he also told the outlet he could not remember the name of a top Republican that attended.
Politico’s Daniel Lippman noted the top Republican was Terry Branstad.
Branstad served as Iowa’s Republican governor from 1983 to 1999.
The former governor shared he was willing to give Ramaswamy a chance but noted not many residents of the state are familiar with a concept pushed by the entrepreneur called environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.
“Iowans are very open minded, and they’re very willing to listen and make up their own mind,” Branstad told Politico.
Still, he said, most residents “don’t know” what ESG is.
Ramaswamy is a son of immigrants from India.
He graduated from Harvard for undergraduate work and went on to study at Yale Law.
Ramaswamy succeeded as a biotech entrepreneur and developed five drugs approved by the FDA.
After publishing two books, he launched the asset management firm Strive that advises companies to steer clear of politics, Politico noted.
