Multi-millionaire biotech engineer and asset manager Vivek Ramaswamy is running for the Republican nomination for President.
He is running as an “anti-woke” and anti-abortion candidate who intends to rule by executive fiat, with plans to abolish the Education Department and the FBI, eradicate teachers’ unions, and launch military action across the Mexican border to stop the inflow of fentanyl.
He has called for the phasing out of aid to Israel by 2028 as Israel improves its relationship with its Arab neighbors and no longer needs U.S. support. When criticized for this stance, he responded, “Our relationship with Israel will never be stronger than by the end of my first term. But it’s not a client relationship, it is a friendship. And you know what friends do? Friends help each other stand on their own two feet.”
He has criticized Jewish Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky noting, “I would just say that there are open questions about his treatment of religious minorities, including but not limited to Jews in Ukraine.”
What is a Jewish connection in Ramaswamy’s life?
A) Even though he is not Jewish, he accepted the offer by rabbis to wear tefillin when he visited the Western Wall in Israel.
B) Even though he is not Jewish, he sent his children to nursery school at Congregation Beth Tikvah in Columbus, Ohio where he lives.
C) Even though he is not Jewish, while at Yale Law School he was a member of Shabtai, a Jewish alternative to the Yale University “secret societies.”
D) Even though he is not Jewish, he made a visit to the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson before appearing at a political event in Borough Park in Brooklyn.
E) Even though he is not Jewish, he threw himself an adult bar mitzvah at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, featuring entertainment by Drake. His bar mitzvah theme was Wall Street, with guest tables named after investment companies including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Deutsch Bank and Citigroup. Of course, Ramaswamy sat at a table named after his own investment company, Strive Asset Management.
