A Hindu for the White House?

Dark horse multi-millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy has burst on the US presidential race track by championing tradition and Trump, and arguing that wokeism replacing religion is the curse of America and the world

- RAVI SHANKAR

Lord Curzon, the father of the British Empire, would have choked. Or so says British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis. Reason? UK Prime Minister of Indian descent, Rishi Sunak, uttered “Jai Shri Ram” at a Ram katha held by Hindu preacher Morari Bapu at Cambridge University. History has a wicked sense of humour and maybe, just maybe, it will be George Washington’s turn to disturb the grave dirt. A new brown face has gate-crashed the 2024 American presidential party with gunpowder gumption of bravado, racism, climate denial, US isolationism, anti-LGBTQ schtick, nationalism, ersatz Obamaphilia and severe Sinophobia: self-made biotech millionaire Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy, who was the most Googled name after the first Republican presidential debate last week. A rank outsider, who doesn’t inhabit the Washington swamp, he came second in the polling for a brief while, after which Donald Trump’s main challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, pulled ahead again. Trump, who didn’t attend the primary debate, is still the frontrunner with 42 percent.

THE TRUMP SURROGATE