Extremism fuels GOP longshot’s surprising surge: columnist

Vivek Ramaswamy has emerged from obscurity as one of early surprises of the 2024 Republican race.

The biotech executive has risen in the polls since launching his longshot candidacy earlier this year and is now within striking distance of former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

MSNBC’s Zeeshan Aleem attributes Ramaswamy’s ascension to relevance in the Republican race to his extremist views.

Aleem notes that recent profiles in The New York Times and Politico attributing Ramaswamy’s surge to his being media-friendly and tech savvy “are not wrong per se, but they don’t tell the whole story.”

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Aleem asserts that the “essential ingredient” that’s paying off for the Ramaswamy campaign is his unapologetic brand of MAGA extremism.

“Ramaswamy is affirming the Republican base’s instincts by promising to succeed where Trump failed to deliver and perfect MAGA politics. And people are eating it up,” Aleem writes, noting that Ramaswamy’s campaign promises include launching military strikes in Mexico and abolishing the Department of Education.

Aleem notes that Ramaswamy has described climate change activists as “cult” members, claimed the solution to global warming is to “drill, frack, burn coal,” and assailed “wokeism.”

“Much like the politician he emulates, Ramaswamy sprints toward controversy and embraces a toxic blend of right-wing nationalism and anarcho-capitalism every moment he can,” Aleem writes.

“Ramaswamy is a fresh-faced, buttoned-up and more militant version of Trumpism in a race where most contenders are a familiar face and operating within the parameters that Trump has already created. Most reporting on him so far, including the profiles mentioned above, has not downplayed his extremism. But they imply his success is attributable to his communications strategy when the reality is that his communication is landing because of his position on the tip of the spear of MAGAism.

“I am not concerned that Ramaswamy will displace Trump in this race. I’m concerned about what he signifies: a growing appetite for reactionary extremism.”