What next for Vivek Ramaswamy?

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by Oliver Bateman

Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at his caucus night event in Iowa on 15 January. Credit: Getty

Last night’s Iowa caucuses — the first major event of the American presidential campaign — answered two questions: ex-president Donald Trump remains the clear frontrunner, while upstart candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has concluded he has no path to the Republican nomination. As questions continue to swirl around the viability of Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, who finished second and third respectively, Ramaswamy now has to figure out what comes next for him and the brand he carefully constructed during his unorthodox campaign.

One possible path forward would see Ramaswamy joining forces with Trump. He refrained from attacking the former president throughout his run, even though Trump went on to refer to him as “not MAGA”, a “waste of a vote”, and even a “vote for the other side”. Ramaswamy, who attributed those attacks to Trump’s campaign advisers, quickly endorsed the Iowa winner after suspending his own campaign. When asked whether he harboured vice-presidential ambitions at a post-event broadcast on X, Ramaswamy didn’t rule it out, stating only that he needed a role that would allow him to “speak my convictions” and “serve the country”.

While such a role would further elevate Ramaswamy, it’s doubtful that he would add much to Trump’s push for the presidency besides a skilled debating voice — his base of support is small, and Trump would probably be better served, strategically at least, by a bland, more mainstream conservative to balance his ticket. In 2016 it was Mike Pence; this time it could be former South Carolina governor Haley, a malleable performer who like Ramaswamy has refrained from full-frontal assaults on Trump. If anything, Ramaswamy is probably too smart, his moves too telegraphed, to last long alongside Trump; consider the ex-president’s breaks with Steve Bannon, Chris Christie, and various other strong personalities over the years.

Instead, Ramaswamy’s best path forward mirrors the course pursued by Andrew Yang after the latter’s dark-horse candidacy for the 2020 Democratic nomination. Yang, also a businessman and the son of immigrants, parlayed an ahead-of-its-time policy reform — $1,000 a month in universal basic income payments to Americans to offset jobs lost to automation — into a varied post-election career. He briefly led the New York mayoral race eventually won by centre-left Eric Adams and founded the Forward Party, designed to advance policy goals including nonpartisan primaries, ranked-choice voting, as well as various other reforms geared towards reducing polarisation in American politics. 

Although Ramaswamy clearly craves the political power that would enable him to “serve the country”, the Yang route would allow him to optimise his talents. The entrepreneur has a strong presence on social media, through which he did much of his later-stage campaign advertising as his war chest shrunk, and his smooth touch on the debate stage would serve him well as a talking head on the major news networks. Some of Ramaswamy’s positions, including a less interventionist “America first” approach to foreign policy, would even resonate with voters on the Left; he has proven able to cross certain rhetorical divides that Republican insiders like Haley wouldn’t dare breach. 

Of course, if all else fails Ramaswamy still has a final set of options available to all charismatic, controversial dissidents across the political spectrum: he could launch a Substack, a Patreon, a full-fledged magazine, a show on X, or another subscription-funded effort to keep his once-unfamiliar name on everyone’s lips. Although he could only talk his way into the hearts of 8,000 or so voters at the caucuses, that’s a lion’s share in the world of alternative media. 

In any event, Ramaswamy has, in his own words, demonstrated a willingness to “put in the work” — how he prioritises it will go a long way towards determining what remains of his political brand. Hitching his wagon to this campaign season’s star would probably only draw him too close to Trump’s bright orange sun. That move didn’t work out too well for all the unwary Icaruses who preceded him.