Vivek Ramaswamy’s Loud Voice Doesn’t Echo Young Indian Americans

As a young Indian American commentator, it’s both exciting and challenging when an Indian American breaks into the national political arena. To date, we’ve seen former Louisiana Gov. Piyush “Bobby” Jindal, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley run for president. But the reality is that Jindal is a footnote to history, Harris is predominantly perceived as a Black woman first, and Haley is white-passing and has only recently embraced her Indian American identity for this latest presidential bid. Moreover, each of these figures is from a previous generation — coming of age in a very different America than the one inherited by millennials and Gen Z.

Therefore, my interest was piqued when, a few months back, I learned of an Indian American millennial who’d entered the 2024 presidential race out of nowhere. That candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, burst onto the national political scene last Wednesday at the Republican primary debate.

Though I had already done a deep dive into the right-wing tech bro and culture warrior, I watched Ramaswamy’s debate performance with a unique sense of dread. I hoped the people watching at home knew this was no representation of either my generation or the Indian American community. Ramaswamy, 38, is one of the few high-profile young Indian American political voices, but nearly every word out of his mouth betrays the core values of the demographics he’s invoking for his deeply cynical campaign.

In rallying cries to his fellow Indians to break free from the British Empire, Mahatma Gandhi often cited and drew from the American Revolution. No doubt Ramaswamy, who has centered the “revolution” in his messaging, knows this well. However, unlike Ramaswamy, the vast majority of Indian Americans ― having come of age during or just after Indian Independence in the mid-20th century ― treasure the hard-won privilege of democracy.

At the debate, the biotech entrepreneur fed red meat to the MAGA base, here