Rapping Republican hopeful loses himself in Iowa

Rising Republican star Vivek Ramaswamy stole the show at Iowa State Fair, even eclipsing Donald Trump.

Vivek Ramaswamy raps after a Fair Side Chat with Governor Kim Reynolds at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday. Picture: AFP

In what was a first in American political campaigning, Vivek Ramaswamy, a once long-shot candidate for the Republican nomination for president, launched into an impromptu rendition of Eminem’s Lose Yourself on stage at a campaign event in Iowa at the weekend.

As a bemused Republican governor Kim Reynolds looked on, Ramaswamy rapped word-perfectly to the 2002 hit song before a throng of Republican supporters who had turned out at Iowa’s annual State Fair on Saturday to watch the parade of Republican presidential hopefuls sit for a ‘‘fair side’’ chat with the governor.

“It was a total surprise: one of the questions Kim asked me was what is your favourite close-out song, so when I was leaving the stage I still had the mic, and I couldn’t resist; we have to have a little fun actually,” he told Fox News on Sunday (Monday AEST) after video of his performance went viral.

Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former vice-president Mike Pence were there too, jostling for the crowd’s attention in the first state to hold a Republican primary in 2024, but Mr Ramaswamy, at 38 the youngest ever Republican presidential candidate, stole the show in Des Moines on Saturday, less than two weeks out from the first Republican debate in Milwaukee on August 23.

Ramaswamy’s confidence, charm, ferocious fluency and relentless media appearances have catapulted the former biotech entrepreneur, a Hindu born to Indian parents in Cincinnati, to third or even second place among the dozen or so declared Republican candidates, according to national polls. His chance of clinching the nomination, according to widely quoted political betting market PredictIt, has surged from 3 per cent to 15 per cent since he launched his campaign in February. He is tied with Mr DeSantis, whose much-hyped campaign has tanked, for second place on Sunday (Monday AEST) for the first time.

“I’m going to be focused on the economy, ending the war in Ukraine, and declaring independence from China,” he told Fox, correcting the presenter for suggesting he might end up as running mate to Mr Trump, whose political views he shares. Mr Trump, still overwhelmingly the frontrunner despite the former president’s mounting legal woes, often praises Mr Ramaswamy, who returns the favour, fuelling speculation the former president might pick the former bio-tech entrepreneur as his running mate, something neither man has ruled out.

“I respect president Trump, I don’t bash him, he was excellent, but I expect him to be an adviser and mentor to me in the White House, showing me where the bodies are buried,” Mr Ramaswamy said, exuding his trademark confidence.

Worth more than $US600m, according to Forbes, after stints in the hedge fund and biotech sectors, Mr Ramaswamy graduated from Harvard and Yale in science and law, respectively, and burnished his conservative credentials as a highly articulate critic of ‘‘woke capitalism’’.

“I’m about getting in there and shutting down the administrative deep state, the three letter agencies, the FBI, the IRS, the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) – they are a threat to the constitutional republic,” he said. “My centrepiece is delivering GDP growth; my conviction is young people, old people will be more united behind the country when they are making more money in that country … the three letter agencies are a wet blanket on businesses large and small”.

His style and positions reflect those of Democrat candidate Robert F Kennedy, who has also refused to personally attack any presidential candidate, including Mr Trump and Joe Biden.

“I won’t be guided by vengeance and grievance,” Mr Ramaswamy said, stressing he would pardon Mr Trump for any federal crimes and would not as president pursue the Biden family, as allegations of influence peddling and potentially bribery swirl around the First Family.

Mr Ramaswamy, who says the US is “sleep-walking into nuclear conflict with Russia”, argues the US should focus defence efforts on China, echoing Mr Trump’s criticism of US support for Ukraine, a view increasingly shared by Republican voters, according to most polls.

Just as Mr Kennedy discounts the Warren Commission that found his uncle was killed by a crazed lone gunman, Mr Ramaswamy declared earlier this month the 9/11 Commission report into the World Trade Centre attacks didn’t give the full picture.

“Do I believe everything the government told us about it? Absolutely not. Do I believe the 9/11 Commission? Absolutely not,” he said. “Al-Qa’ida clearly planned and executed the attacks, but we have never fully addressed who knew what in the Saudi government about it,” he later clarified, after Mr Pence said he was “deeply offended” by the remarks.