Former US President Donald Trump, despite all his legal troubles, remains the biggest name in the Republican camp when it comes to fighting the incumbent President of the United States of America Joe Biden in the 2024 elections.
Therefore, that leaves other candidates, including Indian-origin American politicians Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, to figure out what to do if they cannot win the final nomination as the presidential candidate.
Ramaswamy, 38, who appears to share a lot of ideas with Trump (for example, climate change denial), has now hinted that he might become Trump’s running mate if the Republican presidential nomination does not come his way. This would make Ramaswamy vice-president material, if at all Trump, 77, could prevail over Biden.
Responding to a question on GB News whether he would be “happy to be [Trump’s] VP”, Ramaswamy said, “See, this isn’t about me. If this were about me, sure. That’s a fine position for someone to have at my age. This is about reviving our country and I can only reunite this country if I’m doing it from the White House as the leader and the face of our movement.”
The entrepreneur-turned-politician added that he had “fresh legs” and was “almost half [Trump’s] age”, but would ask the latter to serve as “my most valued adviser” in the White House.
Rumours of a joint ticket between the two men in the 2024 race were fanned by the Trump campaign’s praise for Ramaswamy after the first Republican primary debate on Wednesday, in which he emerged as a breakout star.
A self-declared “outsider” who has no experience as an elected official has pledged to pardon Trump for any federal convictions on “day one” of his presidency and continue his legacy in the White House with an “America First 2.0” agenda, The Telegraph newspaper said.
In previous interviews, Ramaswamy had denied becoming the former president’s running mate, insisting that he could only change the country if he won the top job. “I’m not interested in a different position in the government. Frankly, I’d drive change through the private sector sooner than becoming number two or three in the federal government,” he told Fox News a week ago.
Ramaswamy’s popularity rating and online fundraising have surged after his impressive performance at the first Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday.
The first poll that came out after the Republican presidential primary debate said that 28 per cent of the 504 respondents said that Ramaswamy performed the best. He was followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 27 per cent, and Pence (13 per cent). Indian-American Nikki Haley received the vote of 7 per cent.
According to Fox News, Ramaswamy was the most Google-searched Republican candidate after the debate. He was followed by fellow Indian-American Haley. Both the Indian-Americans were standing next to each other on the debate stage.
—With inputs from the Press Trust of India