After days of silence, Vivek Ramaswamy is set to depart the cost-cutting commission known as DOGE, with many people speculating about the root cause of the departure.
On Monday, the biotech entrepreneur confirmed what many on social media had suspected: he will no longer serve on President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a commission he passionately supported when the idea kicked off last year. He was set to lead the program alongside Elon Musk.
It was my honor to help support the creation of DOGE. I’m confident that Elon & team will succeed in streamlining government. I’ll have more to say very soon about my future plans in Ohio. Most importantly, we’re all-in to help President Trump make America great again! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/f1YFZm8X13
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 20, 2025
Officially, Ramaswamy is stepping aside to pursue plans to run for the governor of Ohio. However, many speculate that more is at play than Ramaswamy’s campaign to lead the Buckeye State.
Observers are pointing to a controversial tweet he posted on December 26, 2024. In it, Ramaswamy criticized American culture for what he said: “venerated mediocrity over excellence.”
“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers… More math tutoring, fewer sleepovers. More weekend science competitions, fewer Saturday morning cartoons. More books, less TV,” he continued.
Ramaswamy was almost universally lambasted for being out of touch and attacking what many Americans view as some of the best parts of American culture.
“The Woodstock generation managed to build out aerospace, the one before went to the moon, America was doing great. Underlying your post is that we were all living in squalor until being rescued by H-1B’s. Then why did everyone want to come here?” wrote popular conservative commentator Mike Cernovich in response to Ramaswamy’s post.
The Woodstock generation managed to build out aerospace, the one before went to the moon, America was doing great. Underlying your post is that we were all living in squalor until being rescued by H-1B’s. Then why did everyone want to come here?
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) December 26, 2024
In November, The Dallas Express reported that Strive Enterprises, the company Ramaswamy co-founded, is moving its headquarters to Dallas. The wealth management firm launched in 2022 is known for its “non-woke” investment philosophy, which sets it apart from the ESG-heavy focus Wall Street has seen in recent years.