Ohio entrepreneur and political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy is heading back to Iowa, spending the first part of the Memorial Day weekend getting to know more voters in the critical kick-off caucus state.
The Republican presidential candidate’s fifth trip to the Hawkeye State since declaring his candidacy in February will take him across eastern, central, and southern Iowa.
Ramaswamy (pictured ab0ve) begins his two-day bus tour on Friday with a “Pancakes with Vivek” campaign stop. The event begins at 8 a.m. at Barn Happy in Cedar Falls. State Representative Walt Rogers (R-Cedar Falls) is hosting the candidate meet and greet, according to the campaign.
Ramaswamy, a biotech millionaire, will then lead a Waterloo-Cedar Falls Business Roundtable beginning at 11:30 a.m. at Mudd Advertising in Cedar Falls. He then plans to play some “pick up” tennis in the afternoon, a fitting activity for the former nationally-ranked junior tennis player. At 4 p.m., it’s “A Break with Vivek” back at Mudd Advertising in Cedar Falls.
His bus tour continues Saturday morning in suburban Des Moines for some more “Pancakes with Vivek” at the Machine Shed in Urbandale. The campaign stop begins at 9 a.m., followed by an 11:30 a.m. appearance at CelebrAsian at Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines. At 4 p.m., Ramaswamy will speak at a Republican Party town hall at the Osceola Public Golf Course. The event is hosted by the Republican Party of Ringgold, Clarke and Decatur counties and the Southern Iowa Republican Women.
In his last swing through Iowa, a five-day, multi-city bus tour, Ramaswamy pitched a constitutional amendment raising the voting age to 25. The 37-year-old millennial said his young citizen service plan would allow 18- to 24-year-olds to vote under a couple of conditions: That they serve their country in the military or as a first responder for at least six months, or they “pass the same civics test that we make an immigrant pass to actually become a voting citizen this country.”
The anti-woke crusader asserts America is suffering from an identity crisis amid the culture wars and the left’s divisive identity politics agenda.
“I’m running to lead a nation, not just a party. We hunger for purpose yet cannot answer what it means to be an American. We long for that answer. I’m running for President to revive the very ideals that set our nation in motion 250 years ago,” Ramaswamy tweeted Tuesday.
I’m running to lead a nation, not just a party. We hunger for purpose yet cannot answer what it means to be an American. We long for that answer. I’m running for President to revive the very ideals that set our nation in motion 250 years ago. pic.twitter.com/Kh7dihQYMQ
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 23, 2023
Newly minted GOP presidential candidate Tim Scott will be in Iowa on Wednesday, with campaign stops scheduled for a Sioux City Christian school in the morning and a town hall slated for the evening. It’s Scott’s first trip to Iowa after launching his campaign this week.
Things are getting busier in Iowa, the first-in-the-nation nominating state — at least for the Republican Party.
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, among the growing list of declared Republican presidential candidates, campaigned in the Hawkeye State last week.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Vivek Ramaswamy” by Vivek Ramaswamy.
