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Vivek Ramaswamy, the failed 2024 Republican presidential candidate and uber-wealthy biotech entrepreneur, officially declared his candidacy for governor of Ohio on Monday.
In recent comments to NBC News, Ramaswamy portrayed his gubernatorial bid as a plan hatched from a discussion he had with President Donald Trump and Elon Musk:
“President Trump, Elon and I had a great relationship but talked about exactly where each of us was going to drive maximum change for the country,” Ramaswamy said. “And, for me, I believe that leading from the front here in Ohio and setting an example for the rest of the country and, frankly, even bringing some of the principles of efficiency and spending and deregulation to our state would be the way that I as a leader would be able to have the biggest impact.”
Ramaswamy and Musk were initially co-leaders of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a pseudo-governmental group Trump has moved to gut parts of the federal workforce and crucial government programs. But Ramaswamy left the group in January, following backlash over critical comments he made criticizing American culture and, in particular, American-born workers’ work ethic, which he said pales in comparison with that of immigrants who come to the United States for work. One wonders how that ordeal, which enraged liberals and conservatives alike, might affect Ramaswamy’s candidacy. As NBC News reported, Ohio has a sizable number of federal employees, so it’s possible voters there won’t be keen on electing a governor who’s been so eager to slash government jobs and services.
And hard as it may be to believe, Ramaswamy has appeared even more committed to such cuts than Musk at times. Last year, in a blog about Ramaswamy and Musk’s op-ed promoting their plans for deep austerity measures, I noted Ramaswamy’s public call for the United States to institute “Milei-style cuts, on steroids.”
That was a reference to Javier Milei, the chainsaw-wielding, pro-Trump president of Argentina who’s become a celebrity among Republicans. Milei’s crushing cuts to federal programs caused poverty to skyrocket above 50% during the first six months of his presidency, and have continued to devastate much of Argentina in the time since.
When NBC News asked him about the potential backlash to his austerity plan, Ramaswamy said: “I think the way we’re going to do it in Ohio, the way we’re going to run the state, is going to be, I believe, wildly popular with everyone who is a parent and has skin in the game for the next generation.”