DES MOINES, IA. Vivek Ramaswamy, 37, has made hundreds of millions of dollars, written a New York Times bestseller, and has become a regular on Tucker Carlson’s show. The New Yorker recently dubbed him “CEO of Anti-Woke Inc.”
But on a frigid Monday evening last month, Ramaswamy found himself in a setting far far from the Fox News green rooms and high-powered business boardrooms he’s been accustomed to. He was addressing a throng of dozens of Iowa’s agricultural elite at a dinner event in Iowa, situated inside a vast expensive barn with exposed wood beams and elk and bison skulls hung on the walls.
Ramaswamy, dressed formally, had arrived in two large black SUVs after arriving in the state on a private flight that morning. He worked the room, getting praise from his host, Iowa agricultural real estate executive Steve Bruere, who said he had “a message that is uplifting, relevant, and resonates with the typical Iowan.” Ramaswamy thanked him and stated that he was not “in this for himself.” Ramaswamy, a vegetarian, declined the meat hors d’oeuvres, unlike the majority of the Iowans in the room.
He spoke without notes, standing at a rough wooden podium with the words “Stine corn” carved into the front, near to a still-up Christmas tree and a massive stone fireplace, and hammered on his favourite themes about how woke capitalism is destroying the country.
“We were taught that you satisfy a moral yearning by going to Ben & Jerry’s and ordering a cup of ice cream with some social justice sprinkles on top,” he told the audience, a line he repeated several times throughout his visit to Iowa. “But we’ve learned in the last couple of years that you cannot fulfil that moral appetite with fast food. And the good news is that I believe we’re becoming hungry again. And I believe there is an opportunity to satisfy that yearning with something more profound.”
Ramaswamy was in Iowa to do what people with ambition, a craving for the spotlight, and an overflowing sense of self-confidence do on occasion. He’s considering a presidential run, among other things to see if his warnings about the dangers of “wokeism” and socially responsible investing — what’s known in business as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing — have political currency with Republican politicians, business leaders, and, yes, farmers.
Ramaswamy has a hypothesis about how everything will turn out. He wants to accomplish what Donald Trump did in 2016: begin the race with an entrepreneurial spirit, unconventional ideas, and little expectations, and end up with a massive following that will propel him to the presidency — even if it appears to be a long shot at the moment.
But making a fortune in biotech investing is not the same as shaking hands with Iowa small business owners or enduring Trump’s storm of insults.
And at the farmers’ luncheon, Ramaswamy demonstrated both the promise he’d bring to the field and the challenges he’d face in standing out among a swarm of former cabinet officials and incumbent governors. As much as the GOP admires entrepreneurs and businesspeople, there is a natural mistrust of people with no political or government experience, especially because so many of the prospective field will likely have a track record of conservative administration, such as Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
While Ramaswamy received a nice reception, he also admitted to me shortly after his speech that he couldn’t recall the name of one of the top GOP officials present. Terry Branstad, Iowa’s famed former governor and political kingmaker, is close friends with the dinner’s host. (Ramaswamy has subsequently become good friends with Branstad, dining with him in numerous locations and emailing with him and his son on a regular basis.)
Branstad, for his part, said he was willing to give Ramaswamy a chance, citing his campaign as an effort to revitalise national identity. “Iowans are very open-minded, and they are eager to listen and form their own opinions.” However, he also stated that most Iowans “don’t know about” ESG.