Many annoyed by my rise and believe I'm too young to become US Prez: Vivek Ramaswamy
Washington (PTI): Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy on Sunday said many people are annoyed by his rise and believe that a 38-year-old is too young to become US President.
Following his impressive performance during the maiden Republican presidential primary debate, various opinion polls show that his popularity is on the rise. The latest opinion poll shows that he is 12 points up since his August performance. At the same time his criticism by his opponents has also grown up.
"Well, look, we have been taking intense criticism, Shannon, over the last several weeks since I performed well on that second debate. And this is part of the process, so I invite the open debate," Ramaswamy told Fox News in an interview.
"The reality is many people are annoyed by my rise and believe that a 38-year-old is too young to be US President. The fact of the matter is Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the US Declaration of Independence. He also invented the swivel chair while he was at it, by the way," he asserted.
Ramaswamy argued that there is a need to revive that spirit. "And I believe, it will take someone whose best days ahead are still yet ahead in life to see a country whose best days are still yet ahead of itself. And I do believe that the United States of America can see our best days still yet ahead. But we can't just be running from something".
"I don't actually criticize the radical Biden agenda that much because I think it's the wrong place to focus. Of course, there's a lot to criticize. But we have to offer a vision of our own, not just what are we running from? What are we running to, revive meritocracy, the pursuit of excellence, economic growth, free speech, open debate. These are basic values that most Americans still agree with," he said.
"That's why I'm confident that we have a chance to deliver a 1980-style, Ronald Reagan-style, moral mandate. That is how we'll unite this country. And I'm in this race because I think I am the single best positioned candidate to do it. And even though we've taken criticisms from basically nearly every other candidate that's been threatened by my rise, I'm not running against any of them. I am running for this country. That's the mission we're guided by," Ramaswamy said.
Ramaswamy has garnered attention after his maiden Republican presidential primary debate held on August 23.
The first poll that came out after the debate said that 28 per cent of the 504 respondents said that Ramaswamy performed the best.
He was followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 27 per cent, and former vice president Mike Pence (13 per cent). Indian-American Nikki Haley received seven per cent of the votes.
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LS proceedings adjourned till noon amid Opposition protests over Adani bribery row, other issues
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon on Wednesday amid protests by Opposition members over the Adani controversy, recent violence in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and other issues.
As soon as the House met for the day, many Opposition members, including from Congress, were on their feet as they sought to raise various issues.
Some members from the Congress and Samajwadi Party were in the Well while other Opposition members stood in the aisle and shouted slogans.
Speaker Om Birla asked the Opposition members to allow the Question Hour and said they can take up their issues later.
Amid the din, one question was taken up.
However, the protests continued and the proceedings, which went on for about six minutes, were adjourned till noon.
The Opposition members wanted to discuss the Adani controversy and the recent violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal.
The Adani Group said on Wednesday that Gautam Adani, and his nephew Sagar have not been charged with any violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment that authorities filed in the New York court in an alleged bribery case.
