Vivek Ramaswamy’s 2026 Ohio gubernatorial campaign intensified this month as he defended his perspective on what it means to be an American at a Turning Point USA event.
Quoting former President Ronald Reagan, the Ohio governor candidate said, “You can travel to Italy, but you’ll never be an Italian. You can travel to France, but you’ll never be a Frenchman. You can live in Germany, but you’ll never be a German. You can pack your bags and live the rest of your life in China or Japan, but you’ll never be Chinese or Japanese.
“Yet you can come from any one of those places to the United States of America, and you can still be an American — so long as you work hard, you play by the rules, you make contributions, wait your turn, pledge allegiance to the flag, and obtain your citizenship.”
Ramaswamy received backlash over the ideas he shared with students at Ohio State University on Tuesday evening.
GOP commentators react to Ramaswamy’s views on what it means to be American
Former presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s son Nalin Haley slammed Ramaswamy’s response as “pathetic.”
Conservative commentator Benny Johnson offered a more extensive critique, saying Ramaswamy “is dead wrong about what it means to be an American.”
“Vivek makes the obscene argument that all 9 billion people on earth can all move to America and magically become ‘American,’” Johnson said.
“Who built America? The answer is European Christians,” he said. “Being an American is not about how quickly the government can issue you paperwork. It’s a heritage.”
He noted that Ramaswamy’s argument views cultures such as Chinese, French, Japanese and German as distinct and sacred, while emphasizing that a nation’s identity is intrinsically tied to its people.
But another commentator, Brian Eskow, applauded Ramaswamy’s remarks.
“This is the MAGA movement that I decided to associate with in 2024,” the podcaster said in a post on X.
Ramaswamy’s views on Israel
He defended his previous positions on Israel, touting that he was one of the first GOP presidential candidates in the past election cycle to question the U.S. aid to Israel.
“I think it was in the best interests of the United States — and for what it’s worth, in the best interests of Israel, but I’m looking after the interests of the United States — to say that $3.8 billion a year should be sunset,” Ramaswamy said while responding to a student.
He said the fixation on Israel was “beyond bizarre” to him, given that the U.S. sends foreign aid to hundreds of other countries.
“I would say some antisemitic instincts of laser focusing on this without focusing on other problems is also weird, bizarre, and should probably also stop,” Ramaswamy said.
“I think it’s this mentality — this mindset — that somehow one country in the world and the U.S. relationship with it, or particularly, let’s just talk about Jewish Americans, are somehow responsible for the struggles of Americans here,” he said.
Many GOP commentators like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Megyn Kelly sharply criticized President Donald Trump over the ongoing war in Iran. These critics of Trump’s decision to wage war primarily benefit Israel, not the U.S.
In his latest video, Carlson expressed regret for supporting Trump, saying he would “be tormented by it for a long time.”
While Ramaswamy touched on some contentious topics, he reassured his audience that his state will be his priority.
“At the end of the day, individual, family, nation and God beat race, gender, sexuality and climate if we have the courage to actually stand for it. And we will in Ohio,” Ramaswamy said.
Ramaswamy’s addresses rising antisemitism and racism
Ramaswamy faces a primary election on May 5, where he is up against YouTuber Casey Putsch, who has received support from far-right commentator Nick Fuentes, and businessperson Heather Hill, who is anti-establishment like Putsch.
Neither Putsch nor Hill poses a great threat to Ramaswamy.
But that hasn’t stopped Fuentes from focusing on the Ohio governor’s race, frequently attacking Ramaswamy’s heritage and going as far as to say he would rather presumptive Democratic nominee Amy Acton win than Ramaswamy.
In an opinion piece published in The New York Times, Ramaswamy responded to the opposition he received from Fuentes and his supporters.
“If, like Mr. Fuentes, you believe that Hitler was ‘really f-ing cool,’ or if you publicly call Usha Vance a ‘jeet,’ then you have no place in the conservative movement, period. The point isn’t to clutch pearls. … The job of a real Republican leader is to set firm boundaries for young followers, as a good father does for a transgressive son.”
This isn’t the first time Ramaswamy has defended his heritage during an election. When he ran for president, conservative commentator Ann Coulter told him that she would not have voted for him as president, “because you’re an Indian.”
Ramaswamy countered that citizenship and loyalty aren’t defined by skin color but later praised her for being honest even though he disagreed with her.
In the guest column in the Times, Ramaswamy warned against the rise of antisemitism and racism in the Republican Party, while noting the “calls to deport me ‘back to India’” he frequently sees on his social media feed.
“This new online-right movement doesn’t represent the views of most real-world Republican voters — take it from a son of Indian immigrants who dominates polling in Ohio’s GOP primary for governor,” Ramaswamy added. “But as one of the most vocal opponents of left-wing identity politics, I now see real reluctance from my former anti-woke peers to criticize the new identity politics on the right.”
What do the polls say?
A recent survey by Bowling Green State University found that Ramaswamy is in close competition with Acton, the likely Democratic nominee, in the Ohio gubernatorial race.
Where 48% of respondents supported Ramaswamy, 47% backed Acton. The margin of error is 3.9 percentage points.
Reports indicated Ramaswamy, endorsed by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, put $25 million of his own money into his campaign. This allowed him to gain a financial lead over his Democratic opponent.
Acton’s campaign announced last week that it raised more than $9.3 million to date, touting it as “the most ever raised at this point in the calendar by a Democratic candidate.”