You have probably figured out that yesterday’s secret bio was that of Vivek Ramaswamy (or, as he perhaps should be called, Vivek Superswamy – is that politically incorrect? I don’t think so, it’s a compliment). But there are certain elements of his bio and his campaign that may need a little more exploration.

Of course, one question is why am I even thinking about him? The answer is that he is quite charismatic (you can have good and bad charisma, you know) and therefore is prone to attracting attention, and as Donald Trump sinks further into the legal quicksand, his candidacy may become much more attractive to those Trump supports who sing that well known song, Charisma uber Alles.

There was an interesting article in the Times of Israel (one of three Israeli papers to whose daily email I subscribe), which outlined certain aspects of his candidacy which might interest Jewish (and non-Jewish) readers:

1. He would like to end US financial support of Israel on the theory that (a) Israel doesn’t really need our money, and (b) with an expansion of the Abraham Accords not only to Saudi Arabia but to countries like Indonesia (good luck there) and Oman, Israel has ways to make up for the loss of U.S. contributions. He also would stop American aid to the Palestinians.
2. Apparently a recent law passed in Florida makes it a crime to circulate certain kinds of antisemitic material. Ramaswamy has criticized this law as being anti-free speech, and has suggested that it was only introduced and passed at the behest of Jewish deSantis supporters. He also made it clear that he condemns antisemitism personally.
3. At Yale, he was a member of the Jewish “Shabtai Society”, which didn’t exist of course during the Dark Ages when I was there. It acts like a Yale Secret Society (you know, Skull and Bones and all that), but without a building. It was supported financially by an Israeli businessman named (coincidentally) Shabtai (who also is a big supporter of the Israeli Defense Forces), and has as its leader Rabbi Shmully Hecht. Now I know nothing about either Shabtai nor Hecht (save that for another day): According to the TOI, Hecht has said “Vivek is the most pro-Israel candidate running for the President of the United States. He is not merely a political friend of the Jews. He is a genuine part of our community.” (By the way, Ramaswamy was not the first non-Jewish member of Shabtai – count Senator Cory Booker as another.). SEE CORRECTION AT END OF ARTICLE.
4. As he made crystal clear in the debate, Ramaswamy is firmly against any additional American financial support for Ukraine. He is one of a number of Republicans (I guess including Putin-buddy Donald Trump) who feels this way. In addition, both Ramaswamy and Putin feel that Zelensky is no great patriot and hero. Rather, Ramaswamy has accused Zelensky (who is – by some definitions – Jewish) as having taken measures which are adverse to religious minorities in Ukraine, including Jews. When asked to be more specific, Ramaswamy apparently demurs.
5. While most Jewish organizations have supported the 50 year old executive order which prohibits discrimination based on religion, etc. in federal contractor employment, Ramaswamy would apparently reverse that order. He believes that federal contracting should be based on merit alone, and if this means that certain groups feel they are being discriminated against…….tough.
6. I told you yesterday that (about ten years ago), Vivek Ramaswamy received a fellowship from the Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation (I didn’t include Daisy in yesterday’s post), which provides scholarship funds for immigrants and children of immigrants. I suggested that Ramaswamy was not too happy about being associated with a brother of George Soros. Well, the Times of Israel suggests (based on admittedly unverified information) that Ramaswamy actually paid a Wikipedia editor to delete the reference to the Foundation from his Wikipedia bio. At any event, the Soros fellowship is not mentioned on Wikipedia. (It is clearly mentioned on the Soros Foundation site, http://www.pdsoros.org.)

There is more to think about regarding Vivek Ramaswamy than what the Times of Israel wrote about. For example, he believes that there government is hiding important information about who knew what before the 9/11 attack. He also is big on downsizing the federal government: the FBI, the Department of Education, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the IRS, the CDC, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco – they all will be shut down. But……there’s more. During his first two years in office, Ramaswamy told Governor Reynolds of Iowa a week or so ago, he is going to cut the federal workforce “across the board” by 75%! And, he said, “it’s not Yes I Can, it’s Yes I Will”.

Based on people like Vivek Ramaswamy, Josh Hawley, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Bret Kavanaugh, I say (as a loyal alumnus) that maybe it’s Yale Law School that needs to be shut down and not the IRS? It’s a thought.

Correction: The Shabtai Society does have a building. And I think it’s only men. And Rabbi Hecht is controversial