From Sunday football to 'Cars 2': What Vivek Ramaswamy is reading, watching on the campaign trail
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy emphasized his status as a political outsider in the 2024 race for the White House during a New Hampshire town hall sponsored by the Paste BN Network and Seacoastonline last week.
“I think we live in a moment where it will take an outsider, someone who comes from the outside, really someone who comes from the next generation to reach the next generation,” Ramaswamy, 38, said Saturday at the historic Exeter Town Hall in Exeter, New Hampshire.
But the youngest presidential candidate also took the Paste BN Network behind the scenes, sharing his day-to-day habits on the campaign trail. Here's a closer look at Ramaswamy's favorite books, soundtracks and other picks.
J. Edgar Hoover and the 'Cars 2' soundtrack are on Vivek Ramaswamy's list
These days, Ramaswamy said he’s mostly reading policy papers and making sure he's caught up on the day's news. But he and his wife, Dr. Apoorva Ramaswamy, have been reading “G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century,” a book about former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.
“Very fascinating read,” Ramaswamy said. “It gives me a perspective on some of the issues we're talking about in the present, but how they date back decades into our country's history. So that's a half decent book that I'd recommend.”
Ramaswamy noted he's traveling with his two kids, a three and a half year old and a one year old, on the campaign trail.
“A lot of the soundtrack from 'Cars 2' and 'Monsters Inc.' Those have been, I would say, all the rage in the family recently,” Ramaswamy said.
Football Sundays
Ramaswamy said watching football on Sundays is the closest he gets to watching a guilty pleasure TV show.
“Late night, if I'm getting home and it's like 9:30 p.m. on a rarity, I'll go to sleep, catch up on some sleep, get up early the next morning, get a workout in,” Ramaswamy said.
“That's where my focus has been. But a little bit of football season after the end of tennis season has been good for me in decompressing.”
How will Vivek Ramaswamy make life better for young voters?
When asked how he would help young Americans across the country, Ramaswamy told Paste BN that one of the things a president has to do is grow the economy for all.
“Young Americans have not enjoyed economic mobility for a long time, and that's why many young people are disaffected from politics and from the government,” Ramaswamy said. “I get that.”
Part of addressing these frustrations is to lower inflation and bring down other costs, he said.
“What do we do to accomplish that? Unlock American energy,” Ramaswamy said. “That's the number one driver of inflation as high energy costs. That's also how we grow our economy. Reforming the Federal Reserve is also key.”
He also said he wants to help provide multiple paths to success for young people.
“The only path to the American Dream can't just be four year college degrees and standard expensive college debt laden paths to get ahead in this country,” Ramaswamy said. “There have to be multiple paths to success, including even one or two year vocational education, building skills in the trades.”