US Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy Announces 2024 Presidential Bid

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US businessman and author Vivek Ramaswamy has announced that he will compete for the Republican nomination in the upcoming presidential election in 2024, saying he hopes to inspire a new cultural movement in the United States.

"To put America first, we need to rediscover what America is. That’s why I am running for president. I am launching not only a political campaign but a cultural movement to create a new American Dream — one that is not only about money but about the unapologetic pursuit of excellence," Ramaswamy wrote in an editorial in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, said the US is in the midst of a "national identity crisis," with faith, patriotism and hard work on the decline. He said the Republican party should act to fill what he called a cultural void by inspiring a national identity that embraces the concept of merit.

The son of parents who immigrated to the US from India, Ramaswamy said the US needs more immigrants like them, rather than those who "break the law when they enter our country."

Ramaswamy also emphasized the need to defeat what he called "the greatest external threat" to the United States - communist China.

"Unlike the Soviet Union in 1980, China today powers the modern American way of life. We must declare economic independence," he wrote.

Ramaswamy is the third Republican to enter the 2024 presidential race, following announcements from former President Donald Trump and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.