For anyone who imagines himself as the new Donald Trump, it’s almost a recognition. Like the former American president who was asked by several artists not to use their songs during his meetings, Vivek Ramaswamy received “an official request” from rapper Eminem demanding that he refrain from playing his music and rap his tracks during his campaign for the 2024 US presidential election.
A video of the 38-year-old entrepreneur, enjoying a surprise rise in the Republican primary race, rapping the track Lose Yourself at a political event in Iowa went viral a few years ago. weeks.
Eminen’s request in a missive to the US music rights organization (BMI) was made public by the DailyMail on Monday, August 28.
Surprising third in the polls
Born in the workers state of Ohio in August 1985, Vivek Ramaswamy is the son of Indian immigrants, of Hindu religion. This complete novice in politics, who likes to imagine himself in “Trump 2.0”, now occupies, to everyone’s surprise, third place in the polls for the Republican primaries, organized in early 2024.
During his studies at Harvard, this man with a bright smile lends himself to rap and is noticed under the nickname “Da Vek”, an alter ego follower of libertarian texts. “If you think speaker Vivek Ramaswamy is intense, you haven’t met Da Vek yet,” The Crimson, the university’s student newspaper, humorously noted in 2006.
After a stint at Yale, he founded the biotechnology company Roivant, thanks to which he amassed more than $600 million in personal fortune, according to Forbes magazine. He left the board of directors in February to devote himself to his campaign, which he largely financed. “It’s not just a political campaign,” argues Vivek Ramaswamy. “It’s a cultural movement, to build a new American dream. »
True to Trump
In the field, this father of two young children makes the fight against “wokism” an obsession. If the majority of contenders for the Republican primaries are careful not to criticize Donald Trump too frontally, for fear of alienating his base, Vivek Ramaswamy goes even further. Present in court during one of the charges of the former president in Miami, the candidate invited all his peers to commit to pardoning Donald Trump if they were to be elected.
A loyalty that Donald Trump recognizes him: “He is doing well”, recently declared the Republican billionaire, more accustomed to distributing nicknames than good points to his political opponents.
During the last two presidential elections, several renowned artists, including Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Aerosmith or Adele, as well as the heirs of Prince, had complained that their titles were played at Donald Trump campaign meetings. The famous British rock band Rolling Stones had even threatened the Republican with legal action if he continued to use their hit You Can’t Always Get What You Want.