New York: Former US president Donald Trump has lavished praises on Indian-American presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy, calling him a “smart, young guy” days after he caught the attention of the American media following his maiden Republican presidential primary debate.
Trump made the remarks on Glenn Beck’s show on Tuesday, after he was asked whether he’s considering a “Vice President Ramaswamy”.
“He could be some form of something, I’d tell you. I think he’d be very good. I think he’s very good. I think he’s really distinguished himself,” Trump, the frontrunner among the Republican candidates vying for the 2024 presidential nomination, said.
Trump, 77, described 38-year-old Ramasawmay as being a “smart,” “young guy” and a “very intelligent person” who has “a lot of talent” and “good energy.”
He also advised him to be “a bit more careful” with what he says.
Ramaswamy has garnered attention after his maiden Republican presidential primary debate held on August 23.
Following the debate, The Wall Street Journal wrote that Ramaswamy is not a nobody anymore and that the other candidates have taken notice of him.
“The 38-year-old outsider who started the race polling at 0 per cent has moved up in polls for his unconventional ideas. Several of the candidates took a shot at him,” it had said.
The entrepreneur-turned-politician is one of the wealthiest Americans under the age of 40.
He studied biology at Harvard before obtaining a law degree from Yale and was briefly a billionaire before a downturn in the stock market shrunk his wealth to just over USD 950 million, according to Forbes.
Trump, who is running for the presidential election scheduled for November 5, 2024, will be contesting against two other Indian-American GOP candidates apart from Ramaswamy.
Hirsh Vardhan Singh, an Indian-American engineer and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are the Republican candidates vying to become US President in 2024.
