An online exchange between ex-DOGE lead Vivek Ramaswamy and Indian-origin MAGA ally Dinesh D’Souza has stirred fresh row inside MAGA circles, exposing simmering tensions over race, education and who counts as an acceptable standard-bearer for the movement, while Donald Trump and his H1-B comments are still in the frayRamaswamy is weighing a run for Ohio governor, and posted a detailed plan, calling for a reset of the education system. “Time to fix K-12 education by bringing literacy & numeracy standards back to public schools… It won’t happen overnight, but this is how we get serious about making America great again. Ohio is ready to lead the way,” he posted on X.
D’Souza jumped in with a comment that mocked white culture and claimed that it would be ironic if or when Ramaswamy will raise the “prospect of white kids” with education: “How ironic it will be if a brown American like Vivek actually helps to fix education and raise the prospects of white kids, while all the professional whiteys on X continue their idle boasting about how they too could get us to the moon, ‘just like some white dudes did in 1969.’”The remark fed into an ongoing conversation about whether MAGA is willing to embrace a non-white candidate in a leadership role, especially one who does not fit the traditional mould of a “white American male” conservative. Ramaswamy even drew flak last month for celebrating Halloween with some far-right Republicans calling for his deportation,At the same time, the wider debate over America’s education system is colliding with Donald Trump’s recent shift on the immigration issue. Earlier this week, Trump showed a softer line on H-1B visas, saying the United States “doesn’t have certain talents” and must bring in specialised workers to stay competitive. The admission angered some of his loyalists, who accused him of contradicting the movement’s long-standing rhetoric on ‘American First.‘Furthermore, Ramaswamy faced fire last year for earlier comments in which he criticised American culture and accused it of celebrating “mediocrity.” He also said this “culture” was one of the main reasons the US administration hires foreigners for high-end tech companies.In a December 2024 post, he said: “The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over ‘native’ Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if we’re really serious about fixing the problem, we have to confront the TRUTH: Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG.”
