Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was asked on Fox News to explain “the purpose” of his 2024 campaign and respond to complaints that he was “annoying.”
“President Trump has increased his lead — I mean, to 60% now,” Fox News host Shannon Bream told the biotech entrepreneur in an interview on Sunday. “Many analysts say that everyone else is just playing for second place. You said you wouldn’t accept the position of vice president. So what’s the point of your campaign?”
Ramaswamy said he wanted to push the “America First agenda even further than Donald Trump” and reunite the country.
“I can’t do this from a number two position or a Cabinet position,” he said.
Bream noted that although Ramaswamy’s national profile is increasing, “our polls also show that your support has increased.”
“A recent opinion piece puts it this way: ‘Of all the descriptions attributed to Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old political tyrant who is enjoying a bizarre resurgence in the Republican primary race for second place, the most common seems to be: annoying,’ ” she said, quoting an August 28 New York Times article by Michelle Goldberg.
Ramaswamy rejected this, arguing that “many people are upset about my rise and believe that a 38-year-old is too young to be US president.”
“Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the Declaration of Independence,” he said. “Incidentally, he also invented the swivel chair.”
Goldberg’s Times article titled “Vivek Ramaswamy is very annoying. That’s why he’s doing so well in the polls,” emphasized quotes from several political commentators.
CNN’s SE Cupp called Ramaswamy “Disgusting. Annoying. Disrespectful. Inexperienced. Conspiratorial.” A Republican strategist Politico said The candidate’s bells and whistles during the first Republican primary debate “became annoying.” And Josh Barro, a writer who attended Harvard at the same time as Ramaswamy, published “an investigation” into “What makes Vivek so annoying?.”
Ramaswamy’s extreme and unconventional viewsHis outspoken demeanor and staunch support of former President Donald Trump have propelled him to unexpected prominence in the primary race, leaving many political veterans behind.
In many polls he is in third place behind Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R).
Trump, who leads the field by a wide margin, has praised the younger candidate and said he is open to considering him for vice president. However, Ramaswamy said he wasn’t interested.