Republicans turn against Vivek Ramaswamy as Ron DeSantis said he never understood why GOP backed him in the first place.
Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and founder of Roivant Sciences, lost the gubernatorial race to Democratic candidate Amy Acton by 7.9 percentage points. Roivant Sciences had 29 H-1B applications approved between 2018 and 2023. Meanwhile, Strive Asset Management, the investment firm he co-founded, moved its headquarters from Columbus to Dallas in 2025, months before he launched his gubernatorial campaign.
Because of his business background and support for foreign workers on visas, outgoing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis nuked Vivek Ramaswamy following his defeat in the Ohio gubernatorial election, arguing that the Republican candidate failed to connect with the state’s working-class voters.
You know Vivek, he’s like a tech guy,” DeSantis said. That is not the type of person that’s going to sell,” DeSantis said. Ramaswamy said he was no longer involved in the company’s operations but remained a major shareholder. But even with that, it’s like you know you got to meet the voters where they are on some of this stuff,” he said. “Last night’s elections did not only kneecap the last two years of the Trump administration, it basically ensures the four years after that are going to either be Democrat years where they have a trifecta or where you have a Republican president that is hemmed in and limited,” DeSantis said.
Speaking on the Sage Steele Show, DeSantis questioned why Republicans had backed Ramaswamy as their candidate in Ohio, describing the state as predominantly working-class and blue-collar. “I don’t know why they would have pushed him to be the candidate there. Oh, my mom’s from Youngstown. Ohio is a working class state, very blue collar. His defeat came despite an endorsement from President Donald Trump and support from advisers close to Vice President JD Vance. DeSantis also criticized Ramaswamy’s position on the H-1B visa programme, arguing that his support for bringing foreign workers to the US was unlikely to appeal to Ohio’s blue-collar electorate. “He wants to bring in foreign workers on visas. Ramaswamy’s own companies have used the H-1B programme. “I know he shot himself in the foot. I know he did a lot of other stuff to make it a real landslide against him.