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Vivek Ramaswamy ejected from Elon Musk's DOGE over a tweet? Internet speculates
Vivek Ramaswamy left the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, hours after Donald Trump's inauguration.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the Indian-American entrepreneur who sought the 2024 Republican nomination for US president, has left the newly-established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the White House said on Monday. His exit from DOGE was confirmed hours after Donald Trump's historic inauguration as the 47th US president of the country. Trump had selected him to lead DOGE alongside billionaire Elon Musk, the White House announced on Monday.
“It was my honour to help support the creation of DOGE. I’m confident that Elon & team will succeed in streamlining the government,” Ramaswamy said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Vivek Ramaswamy's rant on American culture amid H-1B debate
According to a Politico report quoting three sources who requested anonymity, Musk wanted Ramaswamy out of DOGE in recent days. What irked many Republicans, according to the report, is a post on X by Ramaswamy in December, when he ranted about American culture, which, according to him, "venerated mediocrity over excellence".
"The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over 'native' Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy and wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture," Ramaswamy said in a long note on X on December 26, triggering a heated debate.
“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long.”
Ramaswamy, born to Indian immigrant parents in Cincinnati, said the American culture celebrates the "prom queen over the math Olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian", and that this will not produce the best engineers.
The post has garnered over 118 million views and 51,000 comments. After his exit from DOGE, the viral post resurfaced, with people commenting on it.
“Well he was right, but America wasn’t ready for that conversation,” an X user said.
“I’d salute but you need to respect America first, Vivek,” another user said.
Take a look at Ramaswamy's post from December 2024:
Vivek Ramaswamy, 39, was seen as a close confidant of Donald Trump and JD Vance, who was sworn in as the US vice president. He now plans to prepare to run for the Governor of Ohio, The Associated Press reported, quoting two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
(Also Read: Indian-origin Vivek Ramaswamy reacts to parody account announcing his candidacy for Ohio governor)
