Vivek Ramaswamy, self-described as a “skinny guy with an odd last name,” was the center of attention during Wednesday night’s GOP presidential debate.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, second to former President Donald Trump in most polls, was expected to be the lightning rod. Instead, the 38-year-old tech entrepreneur Ramaswamy found himself basking in the glow of national television lights with his poll numbers increasing as of late.
In an exchange about climate change, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said, “I’ve had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT standing up there. The last person at one of these debates, who stood in the middle of the stage and said, ‘What’s a skinny guy with an odd last name doing up here?’ was Barack Obama, and I’m afraid we’re dealing with the same type of amateur.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence fired off: “Now is not the time for on-the-job training. We don’t need to bring in a rookie. We don’t need to bring in people with no experience.”
Ramaswamy laughed at Pence’s jab, responding, “Now that everybody’s gotten their memorized, pre-prepared slogans out of the way, we can actually have a real discussion now.”
Pence shot back, “Is that one of yours?”
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley pointed her finger at Ramaswamy and scolded him on Russia, China, and Israel.
“He wants to hand Ukraine to Russia, he wants to let China eat Taiwan, he wants to go and stop funding Israel. You don’t do that to friends; what you do instead is you have the backs of your friends,” said Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the UN under Donald Trump.
“You want to go and defund Israel,” Haley added. “You have no foreign policy experience, and it shows.”
Ramaswamy pointed back, smiled, and responded, “Our relationship with Israel would never be stronger than by the end of my first term, but it’s not a client relationship, it’s a friendship, and you know what friends do? Friends help each other stand on their own two feet.”
“I will lead Abraham Accords 2.0; I will partner with Israel to make sure Iran never is nuclear-armed,” he said.
Ramaswamy has risen to the top tier of GOP contenders by emphasizing his outsider status and embracing Trump.
In the spin room after the debate, Ramaswamy said he took the attention “as a badge of honor,” adding that “at least three to four different establishment politicians had their fire trained on me.”
With Trump not participating and rarely mentioned in the first hour of the two-hour debate, Ramaswamy said it was a chance to introduce himself to America.
“I think I did benefit from, frankly, the fact that the other folks on the stage seem very threatened by me,” Ramaswamy said, per NBC.