Thread by @P_Kallioniemi

In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an American businessman and politician, Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy).

He's best-known for his stock promotion schemes, for his staunch support of Donald Trump, and for his hot takes on the Russo-Ukrainian War.

1/16

Ramaswamy is a stock promoter, which basically means that he promotes stocks and then allegedly performs a so-called "pump and dump" scheme.

@MattGertz concluded his "get rich quick" scheme neatly: first, find a firm with hedge fund/VC money, then buy a patent for a...

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...drug that's failed 4 trials already, raise more money, take the company public and cash out.

Naturally, the patent failed to deliver in the end, but Vivek and his family got rich so it doesn't matter.

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To maximize profit and minimize tax payments, the company was based in Bermuda - the man sure is a real American hero!

He's also allegedly used his presidential campaign as an excuse to dodge a legal battle.

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In his presidential campaign, Ramaswamy has branded himself as a "scientist" who has "developed a number of medicines." In reality, he has Bachelor's in biology and was never a scientist but a financier and entrepreneur.

5/16

While launching his presidential campaign, Vivek's team hired a Wikipedia editor to alter his biography. The editor removed references to Ramaswamy's funding received from the George Soros-funded Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

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Incidentally, his team wanted his involvement with the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team scrubbed, too.

We can probably safely say, that these edits were done to appease the conservative, antivaxx and conspiratorial voter-base of the US.

7/16

Ramaswamy has past in the Libertarian Party, but he supported Trump in the 2020 election. He's stated that he might consider the conspiracy theorist RFK Jr. as a potential running mate.

8/16

Vivek's also dabbled in conspiracy theories, when he suggested in an interview with The Atlantic that "federal agents" might've been "on the planes that hit the Twin Towers" during the 9/11 WTC attacks.

9/16

He's also called "the climate change agenda" a hoax, saying that "people should be proud to live a high-carbon lifestyle". He also falsely stated that "more people are dying" from climate policies than "actual climate change." I guess he has no time to read the news.

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In regard to the Russo-Ukrainian War, his views have been heavily supportive of Russia's goals.He favors ending all US military aid to Ukraine,he would exclude Ukraine from joining NATO & would allow Russia to occupy regions of Ukraine if Russia end its alliance with China.
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He's also called Zelenskyy a "bully", stated in an interview that "Our goal should not be for Putin to lose," that the US involvement in Ukraine is strengthening the Russia-China military alliance, and that this can be only prevented by giving Putin what he wants.

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This appeasing attitude towards authoritarian leaders is something that we saw with Trump, too, when he figuratively kneeled before Putin at the infamous Helsinki Summit in 2018:



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In one of his recent interviews, Vivek claimed that a "post-Zelensky warlord" will take power in Ukraine with American military equipment, basically comparing the situation to the Mujehadeen & Al-Qaida in Afghanistan after the Soviets left.

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Now that DeSantis' campaign is practically over, we can expect all the other GOP candidates to suck up to Trump, try to climb up the US political hierarchy, and possibly run again in four years after Trump has been completely defeated.

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To conclude, Ramaswamy is Trump's cheerleader whose wealth came from an alleged biotech pump and dump scheme via a company that wasn't even registered in the US. His views on Ukraine have been controversial, but they're also naturally in line with Trump's policies & views.

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Some of the ingredients for this soup came from here and from @OldNorthShore:



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