Politicians like to scare people. It’s a tried and true method of immediately getting the public’s attention and urging them to action. However, sometimes the things that politicians mention aren’t true. They don’t always speak facts, but rather like tabloids, create catastrophes where only small issues exist, if they exist at all. They pander.
Sadly, this is often done purposefully. This is their strategy to achieve some kind of political victory. However, as of late, the amount and severity of politicians’ pandering is creating a bleak picture of America’s political future.
We are seeing recurring instances of politicians who create controversy just for the clicks, for the chance to gain power. The most infamous example of this of course is Donald Trump, but there have been new players added to the mix: namely Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
In debates, speeches, and on the site formerly known as Twitter, Donald Trump spewed an overwhelming amount of controversial information, such as his vehement defense of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Ramaswamy spews similarly controversial comments. One of his most worrisome, was his suggested policy to raise the voting age from 18 to 25, and to completely rescind birthright citizenship. Both of these things would involve a huge overhaul of the Constitution, re-writing the XXVI and the XIV amendments. While almost impossible, given that a huge majority of the government would have to vote for these policies in order to actually change anything, these statements, and his other tactics, have caught Ramaswamy up to Ron Desantis in the polls. It is unlikely that he will become the Republican candidate, however, as Trump still has a large lead. Nonetheless, the fact that he has made it this far spells trouble.
The things that Ramaswamy says are extremely reminiscent of the former president and his damaging comments.
The lies that Trump has, and still spews, affect everyone. His denial of the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic hurt the entire country. COVID-19 did not discriminate between Republican and Democrat, however, it did discriminate between unvaccinated and vaccinated people. Forty-seven percent of unvaccinated people are Trump supporters, according to Forbes magazine. His anti-vax attitudes and continuous dismissal of the severity of the pandemic caused deaths—real deaths, on both sides of the political aisle. Trump’s lies killed people, and with all of his pandering, he set a precedent for future politicians, such as Ramaswamy.
At the first GOP presidential debate, on Aug. 23, Ramaswamy seemed to imitate many of Trump’s mannerisms. He repeatedly said that he was the only one not bought out by corporate money, which was an homage to Trump’s debates where he also stated that he was “so rich he couldn’t be bought.” Ramaswamy also frequently interrupted and attacked his opponents, just like the former president did in his debates. According to NBC News he was both the most attacked and most attacking towards his fellow Republican nominees. Ramaswamy seemed to be quite the controversial figure among the Republican nominees. He addressed the audience with, “Do you want a super PAC puppet, or do you want a patriot who speaks the truth?” in reference to Mike Pence.
In the debate, Ramaswamy showed his attitude toward the U.S border situation, which was extremely anti-immigration. The ironic thing is that he is a child of immigrants, whose move to America is what allowed him to participate in this election in the first place.
Another outrageous claim Ramaswamy made was that “Climate change is a hoax.” His statements were met by loud cheering from the crowd, despite the obvious falsities of the claim. This idea, like Trump’s attitudes on COVID, is extremely dangerous. Whether you believe in it or not, overwhelming amounts of evidence show that climate change will kill people and destroy the environment. NASA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the United Nations all agree that climate change is real, and is a problem. Like Trump did with COVID, undermining the severity of the situation will inevitably hurt people.
Trump’s lies killed people, and with all of his pandering, he set a precedent for future politicians. Ramaswamy acts like a Trump 2.0, saying things just to gain traction. He panders, just the same as Trump did, and the things he spews can hurt everyone, Republicans included. We need to realize that lies, no matter how in-line with your beliefs they are, have no place in the presidency.
