Vivek Ramaswamy Accused of Ditching Elon Musk to ‘Crash and Burn’ at DOGE
Vivek Ramaswamy tried to talk around reports that he was “pushed out” as co-lead of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency with Elon Musk on Tuesday’s episode of The Breakfast Club, but host Charlamagne tha God wouldn’t let him skate, telling the MAGA businessman, “I don’t believe you.”
“It was really just an actual mutual decision,” Ramaswamy insisted, saying there is “no better person” than Musk to run DOGE, as it has come to be known. “With a constitutional law focus, with the legislation focus—some of the areas I was focused on, probably the right place to do it is elected office. And so we all agreed on that,” Ramaswamy, who has expressed interest in running for governor of Ohio, added.
But Charlamagne was not buying it.
🚨NEW: Charlamagne to Vivek Ramaswamy after he explained his reason for leaving DOGE:
"I hear you, Vivek. I don’t believe you. I think you either got pushed out or you know that it’s going to implode. I think that you know Elon is gon' crash and burn it, and you’re a smart guy,… pic.twitter.com/a932rOrh8w— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) January 28, 2025
“I hear you Vivek. I don’t believe you,” Charlamagne said, interrupting his guest. “I think you either got pushed out or you know that it’s going to implode. I think that you know Elon is gonna crash and burn, and you’re a smart guy and you said, ‘You know what, let me get outta dodge and go do my Governor Ohio thing.’”
Ramaswamy joined the show to praise Trump’s first days in office and promote his bid for governor in his home stage.
“In the first week out the gate, I like pretty much everything I’ve seen [from Trump],” Ramaswamy said. But, he added, “I’ve been drawn in my own journey to say if I actually care about addressing these issues and not talking about ‘em, there’s actually a lot more that a governor is able to accomplish on a practical level than even somebody sitting at the federal level.”
Charlamagne kept pushing back, asking, “You think you were pushed out” because “Trump rolled back the DEI initiatives?”
The Indian-American businessman answered with an emphatic “no,” as the host dug in further.
“How is eliminating government diversity programs like DEI beneficial to anybody other than straight white males?” Charlamagne pressed.
Ramaswamy disagreed that rolling back the initiatives would benefit white men, telling the host, “This culture of reviving merit in the country is a very American idea.” He continued to paint a picture of he and Musk’s “good personal relationship,” disputing the idea that he believed the Tesla and SpaceX owner would “crash and burn” at DOGE.
“We’re all on very good terms,” he said, “And so I wouldn’t wanna speak for anybody else, but I will say that [Team Trump is] very supportive” of his run for governor and could provide an official endorsement soon.
Charlamagne asked whether that means Ramaswamy’s “horse is hitched to the MAGA wagon, especially after it was reported this week that Vice President (and fellow Ohioan) JD Vance’s political team has signed on to run Ramasawamy’s campaign.
“My horse is hitched to the America wagon,” Ramaswamy replied.