Spencer Thomas | Sports Editor
Vivek Ramaswamy cannot decide which sinking ship he wants to tie his blossoming political career to.
Being 38 years old and the son of immigrants, Ramaswamy is not the typical Republican, especially when he steps onto the debate stage. However after, his performance at the first Republican primary debate, as according to FiveThirtyEight he jumped to as high as 10% in the polls. His background in business and his America-First politics make him similar to former President Donald Trump, when he ran in 2016, a fact that Ramaswamy loves to promote.
Ramaswamy is incredibly supportive of Trump, calling him the “greatest President of the 21st century.” But that begs the question; Why run against him?
By coming out strongly against “establishment” Republicans, Ramaswamy has ostracized himself from a large group of voters who showed in the 2022 midterm elections that they preferred established politicians to Trump-backed outsiders.
However, even if Ramaswamy wins over the rest of his party, he will end up going head-to-head with Trump. That is an incredibly dangerous game for him to play. Trump is a wrecking ball. If somebody stands in his way, they are risking an embarrassing and painful political death.
Sen. Ted Cruz went up against Trump and was booed at his own party’s convention and now sits meekly in Trump’s shadow.
A Trump vs. Ramaswamy primary is the least likely possibility. The former president is currently polling around 50% of the party, which means that even if Ramaswamy absorbs the voters from the other candidates, it would still be an uphill battle against a political powerhouse.
Therefore, the chances of Ramaswamy winning the Republican nomination for 2024 are next to zero. More likely is that he is angling to be Trump’s running mate. This is also a risky play for somebody who can potentially have a long future in politics.
Just look at how it turned out for Mike Pence. The former vice president is polling at less than 5%. He put all of his eggs in the Trump basket, and all of his supporters turned against him when Trump put him in an impossible position by asking him to disrupt the electoral process on Jan. 6, 2021.
There is no reason to think that Trump’s second vice president isn’t risking similar fate. There is no way that Trump’s second vice president will make it through a four-year term with their reputation unscathed.
Even if he finds himself in Trump’s cabinet, Ramaswamy has the odds stacked against him.
Only seven of Trump’s 22 cabinet members in 2017 still held their positions in 2020. There is no stability in the Trump organization for anyone besides Trump himself.
While his ideas lead to name recognition and a bout of celebrity, Ramaswamy’s run in 2024 is pointless. The best outcome for him would be to sit back for the next four years, build credibility, and usher in a new era of anti-establishment Republicanism in 2028.
Ultimately, this predicament is not Ramaswamy’s fault, nor any other Republican on the debate stage. It’s the product of an incredibly divisive and toxic culture that is plaguing the GOP and distracting everyone from the issues that are most important to the American people.