Is DeSantis hard to get along with?
The prevailing belief among non-Donald Trump members of the 2024 GOP primary and many Republicans is that the former president would not be able to win the general election if he became the nominee. However, Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate challenging Trump, holds a different view.
Ramaswamy shared with POLITICO in a 50-minute interview on Monday that he believes Trump could indeed become the 47th president. In fact, Ramaswamy thinks Trump could win by a significant margin, describing it as a “landslide.”
During the interview, Ramaswamy, sipping on an orange Gatorade, likened the current state of affairs to a “1776 moment” where the nation must decide whether to revive the ideals of the American Revolution. The 37-year-old biotech entrepreneur positioned his candidacy as a unifying movement for the country. While Ramaswamy acknowledged that he is currently polling at around 3 percent, he downplayed the notion that his primary purpose was to attack Trump’s main opponent, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.
Ramaswamy expressed agreement with many of the policies implemented by DeSantis in Florida, referring to him as a good executor. He also credited his own book, “Woke Inc.,” as a source of inspiration for some of DeSantis’ actions, albeit without providing further details.
Ramaswamy’s attempts to undermine DeSantis were not limited to rhetoric alone. Earlier on the same day, Iowa state Senator Scott Webster announced that he was switching his endorsement from DeSantis to Ramaswamy. Webster praised Ramaswamy as the future of the Republican Party and cited DeSantis’ contentious stance on Disney and Ramaswamy’s extensive outreach as reasons for the change. Webster and Ramaswamy had spent several hours together during a dinner meeting.
In addition to criticizing DeSantis, Ramaswamy had critiques for other young rising stars in politics, including Pete Buttigieg, with whom he crossed paths as undergraduates at Harvard University. While acknowledging Buttigieg’s oratory skills and youthful energy, Ramaswamy asserted that they had little in common beyond that, stating, “He’s like the Diet Coke to my Coca-Cola.”
Ramaswamy, whose personal net worth is estimated at $630 million by Forbes, repeatedly criticized the influence of donor culture in politics. He accused DeSantis of being promoted by billionaires and challenged his opponents to disavow super PAC money, which he pledged to do as well. Despite having had some meetings with wealthy donors, Ramaswamy characterized them as experiences driven by curiosity and reverse-bound invitations. He expressed discomfort with the notion of being treated as a spectacle during such encounters.
When questioned about a reported meeting with billionaires Steve Wynn, Thomas Peterffy, and Ike Perlmutter, Ramaswamy explained that he had been invited by a mutual acquaintance but did not conform to their expectations.