When Donald Trump attacked Vivek Ramaswamy as “deceitful” during the Republican Presidential Primary, many thought it was just a campaign tactic.
But now many are starting to wonder if it was true all along.
And conservatives are demanding answers from Vivek Ramaswamy about his head-scratching deal with a woke corporation.
Trump’s warning largely went ignored
A few days before the Iowa Caucus, former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to expose what he called “deceitful campaign tricks” employed by Vivek Ramaswamy.
“Vivek started his campaign as a great supporter, ‘the best President in generations,’ etc.,” Trump wrote at the time. “Unfortunately, now all he does is disguise his support in the form of deceitful campaign tricks.”
“Very sly, but a vote for Vivek is a vote for the ‘other side’ — don’t get duped by this,” he warned. “Vote for TRUMP, don’t waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA. The Biden Indictments against his Political Opponent will never be allowed in this Country, they are already beginning to fall! MAGA!!!”
Of course, considering the fact that Trump had previously mentioned Ramaswamy as a potential Vice Presidential candidate, many brushed the comments off as nothing more than a typical campaign back-and-forth between two candidates vying for the same position.
But could there have been more to Trump’s comments than the general public has been led to believe?
It’s certainly possible.
And that’s the assumption many now have after Ramaswamy quietly announced a new deal with a notoriously woke media corporation.
According to a report from Breitbart, SEC filings indicate that the former Presidential candidate has now made a sizable investment into the woke rag known as Buzzfeed.
A new direction for Buzzfeed?
Per the filings, Ramaswamy purchased 2.7 million shares in Buzzfeed between May 14 and May 21.
This gave him a 7.7% stake and made him the fourth-largest individual shareholder in the company.
Furthermore, Ramaswamy wrote in the SEC paperwork that he was making the investment because he felt Buzzfeed shares are “undervalued and represent an attractive investment opportunity.”
Breitbart noted that the filing suggested the “Reporting Person” (aka Ramaswamy) “will seek to engage in a dialogue with the Issuer’s Board of Directors and/or management about numerous operations and strategic opportunities to maximize shareholder value, including a shift in the Company’s strategy.”
Ramaswamy himself also suggested that he was making this investment in Buzzfeed to help steer the failing media company towards what he called “the pursuit of the truth,” which led many to believe his intentions were to shift the left-wing media outlet away from woke nonsense.
“Make BuzzFeed a bold, distinctive brand,” he wrote in a letter posted on X to Buzzfeed’s board. “Distinguish yourself from competitors by openly admitting your past journalistic failures and redefine BuzzFeed’s brand around the pursuit of truth.”
Of course, on the surface this seems like a rather straightforward activist investment from a longtime investor who wants to change the company’s direction.
But there may actually be much more going on here.
That’s because he can’t actually fulfill any of the promises he’s making about charting a new course for Buzzfeed.
The truth about Ramaswamy’s Buzzfeed investment
As The Verge pointed out, the 2.7 million shares Ramaswamy purchased are all Class A shares that have far less voting power than the Class B shares held almost exclusively by Buzzfeed founder Jonah Peretti and his closest allies.
In fact, Peretti controls 96% of the Class B shares, which carry 50-times the voting power of Ramaswamy’s Class A shares.
That gives Peretti control over a staggering 64% of the votes in any proxy battle Ramaswamy, or anyone else for that matter, wages in an effort to wrest control of Buzzfeed away from him and his allies.
It’s a standard move any halfway-competent Silicon Valley founder makes to ensure they keep control of the company they started and built.
It’s something Ramaswamy should be familiar with and one that isn’t exactly a secret.
And therein lies the issue.
Did Ramaswamy just make a simple mistake that no competent multi-millionaire investor with his track record would ever make?
Or, as Trump alluded to back in January, could it be that he’s not who he really says he is?
Vivek Ramaswamy has a lot of explaining to do.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
