Vivek Ramaswamy Doesn’t Pretend to Be a Populist
Atwater, Ohio — In today’s politics, populism is in vogue on both sides of the political aisle, but not for Vivek Ramaswamy.
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While taking questions from voters at the Portage County Randolph Fair on Friday evening, the entrepreneur running to be Ohio’s next governor did not quite espouse the message common in today’s politics of standing up for the supposedly forgotten men and women of the country, a theme that Donald Trump has emphasized throughout his political career. Instead, Ramaswamy spoke of the importance of gratitude toward one’s country even in the midst of the problems it faces, and he twice touted his personal fortune.
“Thanks be to God and the blessings we’ve been given, we’ll probably be fine no matter what happens in this election,” Ramaswamy said of his family. “But this state will not be fine, and that is why I am in this.”
Later, a woman asked about campaign finance issues, and he argued that his ability to fund his own campaign guarded him against any demands made by special interest groups.
“My financial independence, I think, is going to be an asset rather than a liability for the state,” he said.
Ramaswamy is not exactly an everyman. He is an Ivy League–educated businessman who built his fortune as a biotechnology CEO and greatly raised his personal profile with an ill-fated run for president in 2024. His background is unlike those of the blue-collar workers who flocked toward Trump ten years ago and made Ohio a much redder state than it was before.
Still, personal wealth doesn’t necessarily preclude a candidate from winning over independents and blue-collar former Democrats in Ohio. Trump has flaunted his money since he burst onto the political scene and has won the state three times.
But Trump also employed a populist message that gave sympathy to working-class voters to whom far-away elites had supposedly given a raw deal. Ramaswamy is not embracing such a line.
In a brief speech before taking questions, he opened by reminding voters to be grateful for the country they live in despite the difficulties it faces.
“In politics, sometimes we forget the step of actually remembering that we should be grateful to the greatest country on earth,” said Ramaswamy, the son of immigrants. “We have a lot of problems in this country and in our state that we need to fix, but we can’t skip the step of, first, gratitude to say there is no other country on planet Earth where I would rather live today.”
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Similarly, in an age when many candidates and commentators rail against a “gerontocracy” that they allege privileges wealthy older people over struggling younger people, the 41-year-old candidate, who has promised to slash property taxes if elected, knocked people his age for being too dependent on their elders.
“Your generation has done your part,” Ramaswamy said to a woman who asked what he would do to improve the lives of senior citizens. “My generation and the next generation, we’re the most financially dependent generations in American history. It’s time for empowering young people to stand on their own two feet without depending on older generations.”
Still, despite imploring his audience to embrace gratitude and self-reliance, Ramaswamy did espouse populist positions on issues that have become especially politically charged in recent months.
He promised on his first day as governor to sign an executive order that would prohibit beginning any new data center construction in Ohio until the legislature passes his plan that would put certain conditions on the building of such a facility.
“If a data center does not benefit a local community, it will not be built,” he said.
Similarly, he railed against Flock cameras, which some have criticized in recent weeks as instruments for the government to invade people’s privacy.
“On my watch, Flock cameras will never be used in the state to spy on individuals while they’re inside their vehicles,” he said.
Ramaswamy also tried to appeal especially to voters who reliably choose his party, which stands in contrast to his opponent. While Democratic nominee Amy Acton has run to the center and broken with her party on a number of issues, Ramaswamy is openly pledging to govern as a right-winger.
“I will be the most conservative governor this state has ever seen in our history,” he said.
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