MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN — Long-shot presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is more focused on making sure Ron DeSantis doesn’t earn the GOP nomination for president in 2024 than he is on winning it himself, a new report suggests.
Ramaswamy, 38, entered the presidential race as a relatively unknown public figure in the political world, but has made waves since he declared in February.
On Monday, a new report from ABC News revealed a possible ulterior motive driving Ramaswamy’s campaign.
“In the lead-up to his announcement, Ramaswamy would tell several other conservative activists that he believed that if he ran, it could stop DeSantis from running or impact his viability as a candidate if he did enter the race,” the article stated, citing unnamed sources.
The alleged motivation sheds light on the biotech entrepreneur’s approach to the race midway through August.
“Those watching the GOP primary race have noticed that Ramaswamy’s strategy is extremely friendly and deferential to Trump, verging on – or maybe blatantly – sucking up to the former president,” Mediaite’s Jamie Frevele wrote on Monday in response to the ABC report.
“Judging by what Ramaswamy reportedly told some conservative allies when he first announced his intention to run, knocking out Trump’s most competitive opponent might have been some motivation.”
READ MORE: Will the Real Vivek Please Stand Up?
VIVEK’S STRATEGY: “SUCKING UP” TO TRUMP
Frevele went on to cite comments from Julia Manchester, political reporter for The Hill, regarding Ramaswamy’s strategy.
On Friday, Manchester told Fox News: “Vivek Ramaswamy has certainly taken that approach of, in a way, sucking up to Trump almost, [by] making media appearances during Trump’s arraignments and indictments, capitalizing on that, saying he’s suing the Justice Department, requesting FOIA requests to find out about the investigations into Donald Trump.”
On Sunday, Ramaswamy fired off a thinly veiled shot at DeSantis on Twitter – warning of “‘listless-vessel’ robot politicians who blindly follow the commands of their Super PACs.”
The real danger to our movement is the rise of “listless-vessel” robot politicians who blindly follow the commands of their Super PACs.
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 20, 2023
Ramaswamy was referencing comments DeSantis made during an interview with The Florida Standard’s Editor in Chief Will Witt on Friday.
“Ultimately, a movement can't be about the personality of one individual,” the governor told Witt. “The movement has got to be about what are you trying to achieve on behalf of the American people? And that's got to be based in principle.
“Because if you're not rooted in principle, if all we are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that's not going to be a durable movement.”
