Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy announces US presidential bid

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy announces US presidential bid

INDIAN-AMERICAN tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has launched his 2024 presidential bid, becoming the second community member to enter the Republican Party's presidential primary after Nikki Haley.

Ramaswamy, 37, whose parents migrated to the US from Kerala and worked at a General Electric plant in Ohio, announced his presidential bid on Tuesday (21) during a live interview on Fox News's prime time show of Tucker Carlson, a conservative political commentator.

Earlier this month, Haley, a two-term former governor of South Carolina and former US Ambassador to the United Nations, announced her presidential campaign. She said she will contest against her former boss and ex-president Donald Trump for the Republican Party's nomination.

“We are in the middle of this national identity crisis where we have celebrated our differences for so long that we forgot all the ways we are really just the same as Americans bound by a common set of ideals that set this nation into motion 250 years ago," Ramaswamy said.

He calls wokeism a national threat. Wokeism is the promotion of liberal progressive ideology and policy as an expression of sensitivity to systemic injustices and prejudices.

"I think we need to put merit back into America in every spirit of our lives," he said.

A second-generation Indian-American, Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and led the largest biotech initial public offerings (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.

He has founded other successful healthcare and technology companies. In 2022, he launched Strive Asset Management, a new firm focused on restoring the voices of citizens in the American economy by leading companies to focus on excellence over politics.

“I'm all for putting America first but in order to put America first, we have to first rediscover what America is. And to me, those are these basic rules of the road that set this nation into motion from meritocracy to free speech, to self-governance over aristocracy.

He said the US faces external threats like the rise of China.

It "has got to be our top foreign policy threat that we've gotta respond to, not pointless wars somewhere else."

"That's gonna require some sacrifice. It's gonna require a declaration of independence from China and complete decoupling. And that's not gonna be easy. It's gonna require some inconvenience,” he said.

Foreign policy is all about prioritisation, Ramaswamy said.

“We gotta wake up to the fact that China is violating our sovereignty and the reason, if that had been a Russian spy balloon, we'd have shot it down instantly and ratcheted up sanctions. Why didn't we do that for China?” he asked.

“The answer's simple. We depend on them for our modern way of life. This economic co-dependent relationship has to end,” he said.

In a statement, Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison said as Ramaswamy used Tucker Carlson's show to announce his campaign for president, one thing is clear: “The race for the Make America Great Again (MAGA) base is getting messier and more crowded by the day.”

“Over the next few months, Republicans are guaranteed to take exceedingly extreme positions on everything from banning abortion to cutting Social Security and Medicare and we look forward to continuing to ensure every American knows just how extreme the MAGA agenda is,” Harrison said.

Before entering the presidential ballot, Ramaswamy and Haley have to win the Republican Party's presidential primary which will start in January next year. The next US presidential election is scheduled to be held on November 5, 2024.

Ramaswamy is the fourth Indian-American to run for the White House.

Bobby Jindal ran in 2016 and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020.

(PTI)

More For You

Report reveals Birmingham’s doctors face racism and bullying
Absences have risen at the Queen Elizabeth and Heartlands Hospitals in Birmingham, as well as Good Hope in Sutton and Solihull Hospital

Report reveals Birmingham’s doctors face racism and bullying

Gurdip Thandi

YOUNG doctors in Birmingham hospitals face a ‘shocking’ number of incidents of bullying, racism and sexism from patients and other staff.

The Medical Academy Annual Report was presented to a University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust board meeting, which revealed the data.

Keep ReadingShow less
Former police officer arrested in Rotherham investigation

Investigators believe the earlier offences happened between 1995 and 2002 (Photo for representation: iStock)

Former police officer arrested in Rotherham investigation

A FORMER police officer has been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation into child sexual abuse in Rotherham, authorities revealed on Tuesday (1).

The former constable, who is in his 50s, was taken into custody on Monday (31). He is suspected of raping a teenage girl in the South Yorkshire town in 2004, according to officials.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi Xi

Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping during their meeting in October 2024.

75 years of India-China relations: Modi, Xi call for stronger ties

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping exchanged messages on Tuesday to mark the 75th anniversary of India-China diplomatic relations.

Modi stated that the development of bilateral ties contributes to global stability and a multipolar world, while Xi called for a "dragon-elephant tango" to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sri Lanka forms committee to address UK sanctions
Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Sri Lanka forms committee to address UK sanctions

THE Sri Lanka government on Wednesday (2) formed a committee to recommend measures regarding the UK's decision to impose sanctions on three former military commanders who led the campaign that crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.

Health minister Nalinda Jayatissa told reporters that foreign minister Vijitha Herath, justice minister Harshana Nanayakkara and deputy minister of defence Aruna Jayasekara would comprise the committee that would consult experts for the purpose.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gujarat-blast-ANI

The blast caused the factory’s concrete roof to collapse, scattering debris and body parts across the area, officials confirmed. (Photo: ANI)

ANI

Death toll rises to 21 in Gujarat firework factory explosion

AN EXPLOSION at an illegal firecracker factory in Gujarat's Deesa town killed 21 people and injured several others on Tuesday, officials said.

The blast caused the factory’s concrete roof to collapse, scattering debris and body parts across the area, officials confirmed.

Keep ReadingShow less