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TOI CORRESPONDENT FROM WASHINGTON:Donald Trump hadn't even taken the oath of office as President. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) hadn't even been formally constituted. But Vivek Ramaswamy, the junior of the two principals (Elon Musk is the other) in
DOGE
, has already been shown the door.
The Indian-American technopreneur, a Trump critics-turned- loyalist, has reportedly fallen foul of the
MAGA
base and has been eased out of any role in the incoming Trump administration.
Ramaswamy faced a deluge of online racial abuse from MAGA radicals after he suggested an educational and cultural shift in the US if it is regain its technological primacy, remarks that were misconstrued as calling Americans stupid. Some MAGA activists questioned his loyalty to the US and asked the Ohio-born Trump loyalist to go back to India, from where his parents emigrated.
Ramaswamy's critique of the US system actually came in defense of his DOGE comrade-in-arms Elon Musk who first triggered the MAGA backlash by suggesting the US needs to "double" the number of "high-skilled" immigrants it brings in through
H-1B visas
because of a "permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent" in Silicon Valley. Those remarks were again misconstrued by nativist MAGA people as calling Americans "retarded."
MAGA critics excoriated Ramaswamy's emphasis on education and discipline, underscoring their fundamental difference with Asian cultures. "Not being cute, this is the darkest vision for America I’ve ever read. No sleepovers, no Saturday morning cartoons. No joy. Nothing to look forward to but endless grinding competition. Life itself sacrificed. In its place, “success,” wrote one.
Musk has now retrieved ground with MAGA but has thrown Ramaswamy under the bus, with Musk aides complaining that he is not pulling his weight in DOGE. Ramaswamy went silent for almost a fortnight after the Christmas-time mishap on social media, where he is a prolific presence, before resurfacing this past week to herald the "dawn of a new era" on Monday.
Although Trump is said to have pressed him to take over vice-president JD Vance's Senate seat from Ohio, that option was blocked by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, who appointed his own loyalist to the post. Ramaswamy has now indicated he will run to succeed DeWine, who will leave office in 2026 because of term limits.
