Latest / Brian Thomas / Vivek Ramaswamy - For Ohio Governor

Transcript

Vivek Ramaswamy - For Ohio Governor · Brian Thomas

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  Speaker 1: Hi, it's Brian Thomas. Pleased to welcome back to the
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  Speaker 1: 55KRC Morning Show. Love when he's on. Vivek Ramaswamy. He's
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  Speaker 1: got my vote for sure. Mr. Ramaswamy, you can find
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  Speaker 1: online at Vivek4Ohio, V-I-V-E-K-4Ohio, and I recommend you do that
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  Speaker 1: because you can get his entire platform. Vivek Ramaswamy, it's
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  Speaker 1: a pleasure having you back on the show. Can I
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  Speaker 1: ask you right out of the gate? You've gotten many endorsements.
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  Speaker 1: Who got the Ohio State Medical Association endorsement, Mr. Ramaswamy?
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  Speaker 2: It just came out this week, and I'm proud to
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  Speaker 2: receive the endorsement of the Ohio State Medical Association. That's
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  Speaker 2: the leading group of Ohio's physicians, the doctors of this state,
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  Speaker 2: which is obviously an honor in any race, but in
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  Speaker 2: this particular race, it means a lot. Where I'm running
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  Speaker 2: against the state's former health director, Dr. Amy Acton, and
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  Speaker 2: to receive their endorsement in this race, I think speaks volumes.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that it's an indication that people who
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  Speaker 2: have really vetted both candidates have really, and they went
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  Speaker 2: through a rigorous process. The fact that they landed where
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  Speaker 2: they did, I think means a lot.
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  Speaker 1: Well, it really does. And I just was going to
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  Speaker 1: jokingly say, you haven't gotten a medical degree since the
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  Speaker 1: last time we've talked, have you?
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  Speaker 2: No, my wife has had one. She's the real, she's the,
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  Speaker 2: she's the person who saves lives every day. And she's
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  Speaker 2: the real hero of the family. But no, I think
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  Speaker 2: it's the fact that Look, a lot of these groups
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  Speaker 2: from FOP, law enforcement, to the state physician's body, to
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  Speaker 2: a lot of even the labor groups that have endorsed us,
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  Speaker 2: understand that even above right versus left disputes, what we
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  Speaker 2: really need at the top is somebody who is competent
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  Speaker 2: and capable of leading the state, someone who is able
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  Speaker 2: to make tough executive decisions and able to understand and
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  Speaker 2: process the issues. And I do think that for a
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  Speaker 2: lot of these groups, and I think for a lot
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  Speaker 2: of voters, The fact that Amy Acton refuses to show
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  Speaker 2: up for a debate, I think, is a very telling
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  Speaker 2: sign that she is just unable to do this job.
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  Speaker 2: But let's put her to one side, Brian. I think
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  Speaker 2: one of the things that I want to do in
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  Speaker 2: this state is improve health care delivery, improve the quality
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  Speaker 2: of health outcomes, bring down health care costs, prosecute Medicaid fraud,
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  Speaker 2: bring some health care price transparency. And those were some
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  Speaker 2: tangible policies that we talked through with this group as well,
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  Speaker 2: making it easier and simpler to practice medicine and focus
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  Speaker 2: on patients instead of paperwork. Those are important factors as
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  Speaker 2: well that I think is going to allow us to
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  Speaker 2: make this a great state to not only practice medicine,
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  Speaker 2: but a great state to get affordable health care. And that, too,
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  Speaker 2: is a big part of the reason why they endorsed us.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I know we're involved in a great discussion on
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  Speaker 1: class warfare brought to you by the DSA and everybody
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  Speaker 1: else who can use greed and envy as a vehicle
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  Speaker 1: against their opposition. But I keep hearing people have problems
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  Speaker 1: with your being so wildly successful and so wealthy. Honestly, Mr. Rimes,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I take great comfort in that because you
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  Speaker 1: at least aren't getting into elected office for the purpose
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  Speaker 1: of padding your own financial book, you for not making money.
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  Speaker 1: You don't need it. And that leads me to the question. Why, sir,
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  Speaker 1: because you don't need this job, are you willing to
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  Speaker 1: take on the incredible challenges of being the governor of
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  Speaker 1: the state of Ohio? What's the point of all this, sir?
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, I think that there's two parts to that.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the first is that I can't be bought.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that's really important in reforming the way
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  Speaker 2: the state is run for the better and taking Ohio
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  Speaker 2: to the next level. The only interest group I report
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  Speaker 2: to is the voters. I'm self-funding my campaign. I'm matching
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  Speaker 2: every dollar that we raised. And that has me putting
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  Speaker 2: many tens of millions of my own money into the campaign.
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  Speaker 2: But one of the things that that's good for is
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  Speaker 2: that it means that no special interest group can really
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  Speaker 2: influence or buy me off. And I think that that's
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  Speaker 2: different from the historical class of politicians who usually run
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  Speaker 2: not just in Ohio, but in state government generally. But
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  Speaker 2: one of the things I'll say more generally, Brian, is
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  Speaker 2: on a personal level, I feel a moral duty to
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  Speaker 2: do this because I have been successful and I owe
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  Speaker 2: it to this country and to our state to really
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  Speaker 2: pay forward what opportunities I've been given. My parents came
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  Speaker 2: from Southwest India to Southwest Ohio with nothing to their name.
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  Speaker 2: I went to public schools, as you know, in greater
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  Speaker 2: Cincinnati through eighth grade. I eventually ended up becoming an entrepreneur,
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  Speaker 2: ended up founding successful companies, the largest of which, Roivant,
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  Speaker 2: has developed six FDA-approved medicines, which are life-saving therapies for
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  Speaker 2: patients today. And now we're raising our kids in Columbus
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  Speaker 2: in circumstances that neither of my parents or my wife's
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  Speaker 2: parents would have ever imagined possible. That is the American dream.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that with that American dream also comes
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  Speaker 2: a responsibility to pass that American dream on to our
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  Speaker 2: kids and their generation. That is why I'm in this.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, there's no other reason that you should run
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  Speaker 2: for governor, not for fame, not for fortune. We've been
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  Speaker 2: blessed beyond our wildest imagination. The only reason that I
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  Speaker 2: want to do this job is I know we can
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  Speaker 2: have an impact. I know that we can create a
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  Speaker 2: state where every kid in Ohio has a shot at success,
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  Speaker 2: the same level of success or more than I have achieved.
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  Speaker 2: And I wasn't born into wealth, unlike my opponent, whose
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  Speaker 2: running mate really went to some of the most expensive
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  Speaker 2: schools in Ohio that my family couldn't have dreamed of
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  Speaker 2: sending me to at that same point in time, Trust
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  Speaker 2: Fund Inheritances. No, that wasn't how I earned my wealth.
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  Speaker 2: I earned my wealth through hard work, entrepreneurship, ingenuity. through
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  Speaker 2: the opportunities that this country uniquely gives to people like
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  Speaker 2: me and to hopefully to like all of the kids
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  Speaker 2: growing up in this state. And so, you know, I
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  Speaker 2: wasn't born a millionaire or a billionaire or anything heir.
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  Speaker 2: I was born an heir to nothing, but I understand
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  Speaker 2: what economic mobility looks like. And I want every family
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  Speaker 2: in this state to enjoy that upward economic mobility. And
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  Speaker 2: my basic view is pretty simple on this, Brian. The
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  Speaker 2: more we celebrate success in Ohio, the more of it
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  Speaker 2: we're likely to have. The more we penalize success, the
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  Speaker 2: less of it we're likely to have. That's the fork
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  Speaker 2: in the road. That's the choice on the ballot in
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  Speaker 2: less than seven weeks from when we're having this conversation.
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  Speaker 2: And I believe people are going to choose economic success
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  Speaker 2: for themselves, for their families, and for our state, and
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  Speaker 2: that's where we're going to win.
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  Speaker 1: Well, the foundation of that economic success, and I know
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  Speaker 1: educational achievement is one of the key components to your platform, sir.
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  Speaker 1: What can we do to improve the quality and maybe
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  Speaker 1: just improve education, generally speaking, to benefit our children? Because
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  Speaker 1: as I've come to conclude, and maybe it's too much
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  Speaker 1: of a broad-brush statement, I think the modern education system,
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  Speaker 1: at least K-12 public education, is failing our children. As
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  Speaker 1: demonstrated by class scores, we need to change that trajectory.
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  Speaker 1: What do you, knowing the value of education, what it
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  Speaker 1: did for your success, what do we do in Ohio?
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  Speaker 1: What more can we do?
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  Speaker 2: I think we have to just double down and focus
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  Speaker 2: on the fundamentals of both math, reading, writing at an
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  Speaker 2: early age. And then if kids get into high school,
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  Speaker 2: also incorporating skills, real world skills. If you think about
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  Speaker 2: many of these students, if you want to pursue a
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  Speaker 2: four-year college degree, that could be great, and we want
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  Speaker 2: great universities in Ohio. But many of them also can
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  Speaker 2: pursue alternative careers in the trades as welders or electricians
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  Speaker 2: or carpenters or even plumbers or mechanics. This is something
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  Speaker 2: that we can foster starting at a younger age too.
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  Speaker 2: But right now, our education system isn't doing a great
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  Speaker 2: job of preparing our kids for the workforce by the
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  Speaker 2: time they graduate from high school. By bringing some basic
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  Speaker 2: standards back, I do think we can fix that. Now,
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  Speaker 2: one of the things that does bother me, and it's
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  Speaker 2: a motivation for me to run and hopefully serve as
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  Speaker 2: the governor of the state. is how much the very
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  Speaker 2: people who pay lip service to public education hurt public
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  Speaker 2: education itself. And my opponent is the prime example of that.
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  Speaker 2: She's the archetype of that. We're the number one thing
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  Speaker 2: that hurt public schools and public school education in Ohio.
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  Speaker 2: Number one thing we can point to in the 21st
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  Speaker 2: century was the COVID school shutdowns. Ohio was unfortunately the
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  Speaker 2: first state to shut down our public schools In Cincinnati,
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  Speaker 2: think about where I grew up. Cincinnati public schools were
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  Speaker 2: closed for nearly two years, whereas St. X High School,
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  Speaker 2: where I had a chance to go to high school,
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  Speaker 2: was closed for five days. Those kids in those public
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  Speaker 2: schools will never get those two years of their education back.
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  Speaker 2: And so I don't have a lot of patience for
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  Speaker 2: those like Amy Acton who will preach about inequality. but
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  Speaker 2: created the very inequality that they complain about. So I
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  Speaker 2: want actual solutions. I believe those kids in the inner
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  Speaker 2: city of Cincinnati deserve access to the same education that
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  Speaker 2: every kid in the state, including myself, enjoyed by going
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  Speaker 2: to places like Sanex High School. I want every kid
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  Speaker 2: to have those opportunities. I want our public schools to perform.
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  Speaker 2: I want our public schools to serve our kids. I
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  Speaker 2: want to support our teachers. Our teachers in those public
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  Speaker 2: schools are Starting salaries should be higher than what they
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  Speaker 2: are right now, and that includes some level of parental
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  Speaker 2: accountability as well. I think parents need to have real
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  Speaker 2: responsibilities and real accountability. So all of that is part
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  Speaker 2: of our vision for educational reform, and we owe it
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  Speaker 2: to our kids, Brian, in Ohio to ensure that they're
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  Speaker 2: able to compete in the workforce of the future and
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  Speaker 2: that they're educated and prepared to do it.
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  Speaker 1: He will answer questions. He will appear in public. You
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  Speaker 1: can ask Vivek Ramaswamy a question when you see him
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  Speaker 1: out at some event, and he's not afraid to talk
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  Speaker 1: about the issues. That's why he's right for Ohio. That's
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  Speaker 1: why you need to check out vivekforohio.com. Check out his
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  Speaker 1: entire plan. And, of course, vote for him in November.
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  Speaker 2: Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Ramaswamy, Vivek, it's my friend. I'm glad to have you
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  Speaker 1: on the morning show, and I appreciate your willingness to
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  Speaker 1: talk about policies and what your vision is for the
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  Speaker 1: state of Ohio. And I hope my listeners embrace it
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  Speaker 1: and get everyone and their friends to head on over
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  Speaker 1: to the polls and vote for you in November.
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  Speaker 2: One more thing, Brian, just before we wrap.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: I still think it'd be great if we have a
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  Speaker 2: debate in this race. And CNN and NBC, local, and
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  Speaker 2: WWT and Cincinnati included, offered to host a debate. I
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  Speaker 2: accepted both CNN and WWT. I respectfully challenge Amy Acton
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  Speaker 2: to show up. And for either candidate, if you can't
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  Speaker 2: show up to debate... that means you're not fit to
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  Speaker 2: lead this state. You got to have what it takes
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  Speaker 2: to lead. And I think that'll be such a positive
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  Speaker 2: thing in the weeks that we have ahead. And if
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  Speaker 2: someone doesn't show up, my opponent has refused. I think
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  Speaker 2: that should affect the way people think about who they're
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  Speaker 2: voting for.
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  Speaker 1: You're going to have a hell of a lot bigger
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  Speaker 1: challenges as the governor of the state than a simple
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  Speaker 1: debate with your opponent. I've been calling her a coward, Vivek.
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  Speaker 2: Get out of the heat. Get out of the game.
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  Speaker 2: That's what I would say.
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  Speaker 1: Amen. Thanks for your time today, sir. I'm anxious to
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  Speaker 1: vote for you. Again, I encourage my listeners to do so.
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  Speaker 1: If you have any doubt in your mind, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know where it's coming from. Vivek4Ohio. com is a place where
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  Speaker 1: you might get those questions answered. Thank you, sir. I
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  Speaker 1: appreciate you running for office. I really, truly do.