¶ How To Win Against Vivek Ramaswamy
Former failed presidential candidate and extremist Vivek Ramaswamy sought to bring his extremism to Ohio, promoting policies that would strip Ohioans of their health care and food assistance. Ramaswamy supported Medicaid work requirements, calling them “not extreme but common sense,” and scrutinized Trump for not repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Ramaswamy indicated he supported Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, even though Trump’s tariff policies were harming Ohio farmers and manufacturing. Ramaswamy was a key architect of Trump’s DOGE initiative, which shut down critical federal offices and targeted the livelihoods of 83,000 federal workers in Ohio. Ramaswamy was an anti-abortion extremist, who called abortion "murder" and expressed support for a six-week abortion ban at the state level. Ramaswamy also excused the January 6 insurrectionists, entertained conspiracy theories about the January 6 insurrection, and said he would not have certified the Electoral College votes as Pence did. In 2023, Ramaswamy accepted a campaign contribution from a notorious Islamophobe. Ramaswamy was found to have paid a Wikipedia editor to delete references to his involvement in Ohio’s COVID-19 Response Team and his relationship with a stem-cell chemist who pioneered the mRNA vaccine. Despite Ramaswamy’s COVID-19 vaccine skepticism and attacks on Operation Warp Speed and the FDA, he stood to reap a windfall from lawsuits his former companies were pursuing against Moderna, Pfizer, and BioNTech over technology that was used in the COVID-19 vaccines.
¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Supported Restricting Medicaid And Repealing The Affordable Care Act
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Vivek Ramaswamy’s gubernatorial campaign claimed “Medicaid reforms” and work requirements, like the work requirements in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” were “not extreme but common sense.” Ramaswamy called Medicaid a “mistake” and called for an end to “permanent welfare,” as Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” was projected to strip more than 254,000 Medicaid recipients in Ohio of their health insurance by 2034.
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During his presidential campaign, Ramaswamy scrutinized Trump for not repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act during the first Trump administration. In 2026, more than 469,000 Ohioans relied on Affordable Care Act marketplace plans for their health care.
Message: Vivek Ramaswamy supported stripping health care from hundreds of thousands of Ohioans who relied on Medicaid.
¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Supported TRUMP’S Reciprocal TARIFFS
- Vivek Ramaswamy indicated he supported Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. Trump’s tariffs harmed Ohio farmers and impacted Ohio’s manufacturing, causing Tosoh SMD Inc. to lose more than $4 million to tariffs. Soybean farmers in Ohio alerted they were at the “brink” of their livelihoods due to Trump’s tariff policies.
Message: Vivek Ramaswamy sided with Trump’s reciprocal tariffs as Trump’s tariff policies were harming Ohio farmers and manufacturing.
¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Supported Stripping Food Assistance From Ohioans
- Vivek Ramaswamy supported imposing work requirements for all public assistance programs. He also decried “overpayments” to SNAP recipients and called to eliminate alleged “fraud and waste” in SNAP. No Kid Hungry warned that new work requirements for SNAP recipients would increase hunger and threaten access to food for families in need. According to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, nearly 1.4 million Ohioans relied on SNAP to afford groceries.
Message: Vivek Ramaswamy supported making food more expensive for Ohioans.
¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Was A Key Architect Of DOGE, Which Attacked Ohio’s Federal Workers, Social Security, And Critical Grants
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Vivek Ramaswamy was a key architect of Trump’s DOGE. In November 2024, Trump asked Ramaswamy to co-lead his DOGE initiative to target “federal overspending.” On January 20, 2025, a few hours after Trump took office, Ramaswamy left the DOGE program to run for Ohio governor and said it was his “honor to help support the creation of DOGE.” Trump’s DOGE shut down more than a dozen federal offices in Ohio, including a Social Security Administration office in Mansfield, even though more than 280,000 Ohioans relied on Social Security benefits. DOGE also canceled nearly $70 million in grants to Ohio State University.
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In 2023, Ramaswamy called for the firing of 75 percent of the federal workforce. Trump’s DOGE cuts targeted the livelihoods of 83,000 federal workers who resided in Ohio.
Message: Vivek Ramaswamy said it was an “honor to help support the creation of DOGE,” which resulted in laid off Ohioans and cuts to critical government services.
¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Was An Anti-Abortion Extremist
- Vivek Ramaswamy was an out-of-touch anti-abortion extremist, who identified as “unapologetically pro-life.”
- Ramaswamy called abortion “murder” and said the Supreme Court was “correct” in overturning Roe v. Wade.
- Ramaswamy said he was willing to consider a federal ban on abortion, and expressed support for a six-week abortion ban at the state level. He said he thought Florida’s six-week abortion ban was “reasonable,” and was “upset” that his home state of Ohio approved a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights.
- Ramaswamy said the Supreme Court should overturn the FDA’s approval of mifepristone.
- Ramaswamy called to defund Planned Parenthood.
Message: Vivek Ramaswamy threatened the reproductive freedoms of Ohioans.
¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Was An Election Denier And Entertained January 6 Conspiracy Theories
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Vivek Ramaswamy excused the January 6 insurrectionists and entertained conspiracy theories about January 6, arguing that blaming Trump for January 6 was “unproductive.” Ramaswamy said January 6 might have been an “inside job,” blamed January 6 on “pervasive censorship,” and wished a “Happy Entrapment Day” on January 6, 2024.
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Ramaswamy said the sentences the Proud Boys that were involved in January 6 received were “wrong,” and asserted he would pardon “peaceful, nonviolent” January 6 protesters.
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Vivek Ramaswamy said he would not have certified the Electoral College votes as Pence did on January 6. He also claimed “Big Tech” stole the 2020 election and the “national security establishment” stole the 2016 election by discussing potential collusion with Russia.
Message: Vivek Ramaswamy sowed distrust in U.S. elections and promoted conspiracy theories about the January 6 insurrection.
¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Accepted A Donation From A Notorious Islamophobe
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In 2023, Vivek Ramaswamy accepted a $250 donation from Peter Zieve, who had a history of racist and discriminatory actions. In 2016, Zieve was accused of spreading anti-Muslim propaganda to block the construction of a mosque in a Seattle suburb through the distribution of anonymous postcards. In 2017, Zieve’s company, Electroimpact, settled a large lawsuit against them for anti-Muslim practices. Zieve perpetuated anti-Muslim practices at his company like discrimination against applicants based on the name or picture. Zieve was also part of an email list that featured anti-Muslim statements.
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Zieve said he found it “disgusting” people were not having children, claiming that otherwise the country would be filled with “the desperate and criminal populations of the third world.”
Message: Vivek Ramaswamy accepted donations from extremists.
¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Paid A Wikipedia Editor To Hide His Record From His Base
- In 2023, Vivek Ramaswamy was found to have paid a Wikipedia editor to delete references to his involvement in Ohio’s COVID-19 Response Team and his relationship with a stem-cell chemist who pioneered the mRNA vaccine.
- Ramaswamy repeatedly pushed COVID-19 vaccine skepticism and attacks on Operation Warp Speed and the FDA.
Message: Vivek Ramaswamy used his wealth to hide his own record from his right-wing base.
¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Stood To Reap Windfall From Lawsuits Over The Covid-19 Vaccine Technology Which He Attacked In Public
- Despite Vivek Ramaswamy’s COVID-19 vaccine skepticism and attacks on Operation Warp Speed and the FDA, he stood to reap a windfall from lawsuits his former companies were pursuing against Moderna, Pfizer, and BioNTech over technology that was used in the COVID-19 vaccines. Although he claimed Operation Warp Speed was “crony capitalism,” Ramaswamy failed to mention that the government’s COVID-19 vaccine initiative may have “deprived” him from “unprecedented fortune.”
- Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and held formal, controlling, positions until February 2023. As of June 2023, he was the sixth largest shareholder. As of December 2025, Ramaswamy held more than 34 million shares of Roivant Sciences, and his estimated $1.8 billion net worth was mainly attributed to his holdings in Roivant.
- Ramaswamy’s Roivant invested in a company called Arbutus. Roivant and Arbutus had a joint venture called Genevant. Arbutus held patents, and licensed them to Genevant, for Liquid Nanoparticles (LNP) that helped in the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Moderna and Genevant fought before the U.S. Patent Office’s Trial and Appeal Board over patents for LNP technology.
- In February 2022, Arbutus and Genevant filed suit against Moderna, while Ramaswamy was still chairman of Roivant, over Liquid Nanoparticles patent infringement. In March 2026, Moderna settled the infringement damages and agreed to pay $950 million by July 2026.
- In April 2023, Arbutus and Genevant filed suit against Pfizer and BioNTech. Arbutus and Genevant claimed Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccines infringed on Arbutus’ patents.
Message: While Vivek Ramaswamy undermined public health initiatives during a global pandemic, he failed to mention how he would profit from lawsuits over the COVID-19 vaccine.
¶ Issue Back-Ups
¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Policies Have Hurt Everyday People
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| Vivek Ramaswamy Supported Restricting Medicaid And Opposed The Affordable Care Act -
| Vivek Ramaswamy Backed Trump's Reciprocal Tariffs, Endangering Ohio’s Economy -
| Vivek Ramaswamy Supported Cutting SNAP Benefits From Ohio Families
| Vivek Ramaswamy Was A Co-Architect Of Trump’s DOGE
| Vivek Ramaswamy Was An Anti-Abortion Extremist¶ Vivek Ramaswamy Had Ties To Extremists And Conspiracy Theories
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| Vivek Ramaswamy Was An Election Denier And Entertained January 6 Conspiracy Theories -
| Vivek Ramaswamy Accepted A Donation From A Notorious Islamophobe
| Vivek Ramaswamy Paid A Wikipedia Editor To Hide His Record From His Base
| Vivek Ramaswamy Stood To Reap Windfall From Lawsuits Over The COVID-19 Vaccine Technology Which He Attacked In Public