Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, the former Republican presidential candidate?

At 38, he is a multimillionaire and former biotech executive.

After declaring his presidential candidacy in February, Ramaswamy was initially seen as a long shot.

Although he eventually dropped out of the race, he has remained a strong defender of Trump, particularly appealing to Christian evangelicals, a crucial segment of the Republican primary electorate.

Despite being Hindu, Ramaswamy frequently speaks about the US being founded on “Christian values” and “Judeo-Christian values,” positioning himself as an American nationalist.

Ramaswamy strongly denounced the recent attack on Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was assaulted and struck on the ear in an apparent attempt on his life.

Ramaswamy, a vocal critic of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, disparagingly referred to Biden as an “old man” and accused Democrats of exploiting him as a “sacrificial lamb” for their political gain.

In a series of posts on the social media platform X , Ramaswamy addressed Biden’s age and his tendency to “space out” during speeches.

He said, “The game is now more obvious than ever: the Democrat Party served up an old man as their sacrificial lamb tonight,” while adding that, “They didn’t drug up Biden. They lobotomized him instead.”

Expressing his belief in divine intervention, Ramaswamy said, “We believe the fact that Trump is safe right now is nothing short of an act of God.”

He continued, “My heart tells me God intervened not just for Trump, but for our nation. Today, the future survival of the United States of America came down to less than a hair’s width in the path of a bullet.”

Praising Trump’s resilience, Ramaswamy said, “He took the fire, he took the hit, he felt the blood, and then he stood right back up for the people he was put here to lead.”

He also criticized the efforts to undermine Trump, stating, “First they sued him. Then they prosecuted him.

Then they tried to take him off the ballot. The only thing more tragic than what just happened is that, if we’re being honest, it wasn’t totally a shock.”

Ramaswamy’s comments drew a response from billionaire Elon Musk, who had previously endorsed Trump. Musk noted, “You very much predicted this,” to which Ramaswamy replied, “I badly hoped I would be wrong.”

Trump was speaking at a crowded  rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when gunfire broke out. Shortly after the incident, he said, “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”

The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was subsequently shot and killed by a Secret Service agent. The shooting resulted in one spectator’s death and left two others critically injured.

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