The Ugly Future of the GOP: Vivek Ramaswamy and the Evolution of Cruelty and Greed

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“The elephant not in the room.”

It was a swipe by Fox News debate host Bret Baier against Donald Trump, who decided not to show up for the first primary showdown. Instead, he cozied up with FNC castoff Tucker Carlson in whatever fake-looking “hunting lodge” he’s using as a studio these days. Trump’s decision not to take the stage, and avoid hard-hitting questions regarding his imminent arrest in Georgia and attacks by his rivals, meant an open playing field.

Ron DeSantis’s disastrous campaign meant his fate was central to the event. Anything short of tripping, falling, and suffering a public mental breakdown would have been a relative success. DeSantis was nothing special, which, all things considering, was a win for this beaten man. His wretched state was enough to keep his opponents from focusing on him, allowing at least a few more weeks for this abominable campaign to keep tripping forward. Outside of pushing war crimes against Mexico and immigrants, his “highlight” was one of the most awkward attempts to smile in all of human history.

Egads.

The DeSantis implosion has captured most of the early headlines that haven’t centered on Trump, but Wednesday’s debate was dominated by upstart Vivek Ramaswamy. Vivek took every opportunity to seize the spotlight, happily playing “outsider” and riling up Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, and Chris Christie in a way few could claim. The dislike for him was palpable. And chances are that, in the next few days, Vivek will see another bump in the polls.

Vivek’s debate was a reminder of what happens when somebody outside of the usual political ecosystem invades the space, much like what Trump did in 2016. There is a decorum and expectation of how these contests play out, and the moment he accused everyone on stage of being “bought and sold” all bets were off. His adversarial style will play well to a GOP electorate that was probably looking for someone to join Trump’s team or carry on his style, though there’s little room for this campaign in this cycle to take off.

What Ramaswamy represents, however, is a troubling potential future for the Republican Party. I have written extensively about the trajectory of the GOP. The rot symbolized by Trump runs throughout the entire Republican Party. There are no true principles. They do not believe in small government or fiscal or social conservatism. Profit through worsening corruption and pursuit of power by any means are their only driving forces. The GOP has become little more than a political relations front for their billionaire donors as they dismantle democracy.

But Ramaswamy is something different. He is the natural evolution of the Republican Party. Something very, very troubling indeed.

For a full recap of the first GOP Debate, head over to the Patreon page for The Muckrake Podcast and watch an exclusive wrap-up show with exclusive analysis from me and my co-host Nick Hauselman

Much to Pence’s dismay, Vivek’s diagnosis of an America in decline was correct. As I discussed in THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM: A HISTORY OF POWER, PARANOIA, AND THE COMING CRISIS, far Right figures accurately discuss moments of crisis and recognize an essential need for change. Their diagnoses, however, are both flawed and intentionally skewed. As a billionaire, Vivek’s worldview isn’t hard to understand. He sees himself and other members of his wealth class as more capable than the masses and government, at best, as a facilitator and, at worst, an impediment.

His “solutions” follow that logic. Flippantly he recommended the eradication of several government agencies, reducing the power of government and effectively opening the door for wild and almost unimaginable profits for himself and others. Domestically, it would represent a corporate hellscape in which quality of life would plummet and historic inequality would only worsen. Severely.

But in what passed for foreign policy, Vivek revealed himself even further. With a grin, he essentially recommended handing Ukraine over Vladimir Putin and showed little signs of worrying over that dictator’s handiwork. While disturbing, it wasn’t that surprising. After all, the New Right aspires to employ a Putinist-style regime and has consistently sided with him for years. His oligarchical illiberal state isn’t a nightmare to them. It’s a literal dream.

In this, Vivek’s politics are predictable, but it’s what he represents that is telling. Here we have the type of man who would regularly fund Republican campaigns and Right Wing think-tanks, but rather than sign the checks Vivek is taking the stage himself. The product he is presenting to the electorate is New Right, through and through. It’s what Peter Thiel bankrolls, what Blake Masters attempted to peddle, and what JD Vance rode all the way to the Senate. Hard power over the government, picking and choosing winners with the veneer of a “free market,” so-called “traditional and conservative” values forward through indoctrination in the schools and forced reactionary energies, and the establishment of a winner-take-all, corporate-dominated future.

The performance isn’t accidental. Vivek presents all of it with a sneer borrowed from Nick Fuentes and other online Right Wingers who make their appeal to their bases through performative cruelty. It is meant to excite a base that has been prepared by Trump to be both psychopathic in action and vicious in demeanor. It’s perfect for a generation of New Right true-believers desperate to feel something and belong to something. To seek validation through a politics of hatred and brutishness.

What we saw on stage Wednesday night wasn’t the beginning of something. Trump gave us that preview in 2016 when many were expecting the GOP to settle into a more predictable and maybe muted push after the deranged Tea Party episode during the Obama Administration. The Alt Right and New Right that formed outside of Trump’s circle and eventually wormed its way in were growing and ascendant while the GOP’s old guard - the Mitch McConnell’s and others in the establishment - were getting long in the tooth and vulnerable with the apparent weaknesses of neoliberalism growing more and more obvious with every passing session. Something novel and new was destined to emerge.

Instead, Vivek’s performance should serve as a warning of where this is heading should the threat not be met with appropriate seriousness. Compared to these retreads and never-will-be’s, his presentation was different. It had energy because it is part of a movement that is taking over the party in general. The finance and tech fascists are coming. The authoritarian ideologues are sharpening their knives. They’re set to take advantage of worsening conditions and they are determined to both make a buck exploiting them and gain power through the chaos.

The Trump Era is waning and the establishment GOP is practically extinct. The next generation is quickly approaching and they mean business.

Ignore them at your own peril.