Vivek Ramaswamy urges New Jersey GOP to ‘fight, fight, fight’ in Atlantic City speech, cites DOGE as an example of democracy

When some attendees at the New Jersey State Leadership Summit noticed the keynote speaker enter the Caesars Atlantic City ballroom, they swarmed around him with their cell phone cameras, trying to capture even a glimpse of him in the background of their selfie shots.

The esteemed guest was Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican author, biotech entrepreneur, now-candidate for Ohio governor, and, at age 39, one of the world’s wealthiest millennials.

At 600 people, the crowd was about double the size of last year’s, according to Kenny Gonzalez, executive director of the New Jersey GOP. One attendee said he didn’t even remember who the keynote speaker was at the annual event last year.

In an impassioned speech Friday night, Ramaswamy spoke about the need to be “saved as a nation” and said New Jersey can correct course after going “the wrong way” by electing Democrats. He praised President Donald Trump’s agenda and called his recent order to dismantle the Department of Education “a beautiful thing to watch.”

The crowd was also pumped up for this year’s gubernatorial race, with Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy term-limited and competitive primaries in both parties. Former New Jersey Rep. Jack Ciattarelli, who is running again in the GOP primary for governor, lost to Murphy by just about three points in 2021, and in November, Trump trailed Vice President Kamala Harris by single digits — both hopeful showings for Republicans in what has been viewed as a blue state. New Jersey GOP chair Bob Hugin, while introducing Ramaswamy, called New Jersey a swing state.

“For the first time in a long time since I can remember, there is a sense of excitement in New Jersey for Republicans that is palpable,” entrepreneur Dipal Patel said while introducing Ramaswamy with Hugin. “And there is no better time to have a prolific national figure like Vivek with us to get us all riled up for what is going to be such an important year for all of us.”

Before a roomful of attendees wearing lanyards declaring “Flip NJ red 2025!,” Hugin said Ramaswamy “knows how to talk truth to power.”

“We need people who will stand up for our American values, and no one does it better than he does it,” Hugin said.

In his keynote speech, Ramaswamy emphasized that “people we elect to run the government ought to be the ones who actually run the government,” and not the so-called deep state. He praised the Trump administration’s DOGE initiative as an example of putting power in the hands of people elected by voters, even though the effort is run by Elon Musk, the richest person in the world who was not elected to any office. Some attendees made that point in criticizing Musk after the speech, while others enthusiastically praised Musk and said it is normal for presidents to appoint people.

Trump announced in November that Ramaswamy would lead DOGE with Musk before officials said just hours into the new administration that Musk would be heading the cost-cutting effort alone.

“We believe the people we elect to run the government ought to be the ones who actually make the laws, not unelected bureaucrats in the D.C. deep state,” Ramaswamy said. “That’s why I’m proud to have helped get DOGE off the ground for the first two and a half months to restore self-governance in America.”

Ramaswamy grew up in Ohio with parents who emigrated from India, and he holds degrees from Yale and Harvard. He defended the “nuclear family” and said that “it makes sense to have the largest deportation in American history, while also embracing those who have come in legally to actually add value to our country.”

Hugin said that Ramaswamy has lived and epitomizes the American dream through hard work, proving himself in school and business, and “challenging orthodoxy.”

“He deserves all of the successes he has because he worked so hard to achieve them,” Hugin said.

Ramaswamy also embraced a message of meritocracy in his speech, saying that police officers, teachers, school administrators, and other public servants should receive pay based on their merit. He said “it is a 1776 moment in the United States” and urged attendees: “Don’t apologize for capitalism but participate in it.”

“Imagine that in the spring of 1776 we could have seen ourselves as victims,” he said. “We were being oppressed by British monarchy. … Our Founding Fathers had every reason to see themselves as victims, but they didn’t choose victimhood. They chose victory. We’re not victims, we’re victors.”

Ramaswamy visited Norristown and Kensington while campaigning for the 2024 Republican presidential primary before dropping out of the race in January 2024 to endorse Trump after finishing fourth in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses. At a Milwaukee debate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who focused his campaign on attacking Trump, called Ramaswamy “a guy who sounds like ChatGPT.” Trump praised Ramaswamy as doing a “a helluva job” with his campaign the day he dropped out.

At the end of his Friday night speech, Ramaswamy encouraged the audience to “fight, fight, fight” for the country, echoing the rallying cry Trump coined after surviving an assassination attempt last summer in Butler, Pa.

“Our best days as a nation are still yet ahead of us,” Ramaswamy said. “Do not stop fighting for this country. Our country is worth saving. New Jersey is worth saving. We’ve got your back.”

Ramaswamy did not take questions from the media.