Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the 2024 Young Americans for Liberty National Convention in Kissimmee, Florida.Gage Skidmore/Zuma

On Monday afternoon, former Republican presidential candidate, short-lived adviser to President Donald Trump’s plans to slash government spending, and onetime “libertarian-minded rap artist” Vivek Ramaswamy announced his bid for Ohio governor.

In his effort, Ramaswamy is promising something specific: to bring Ohio the same cost-cutting measures that Trump is implementing in the federal government. “President Trump is reviving our conviction in America,” Ramaswamy said. “We require a leader here at home who will revive our conviction in Ohio.”

“I spent most of last year working tirelessly to help send Donald Trump back to the White House because it was a fork in the road for the future of the country,” Ramaswamy said Monday—conjuring the “fork in the road” emails that the Office of Personnel Management sent to federal employees that offered a resignation option to “retain all pay and benefits” or risk layoffs.

While he didn’t explicitly mention the group by name—possibly due to the over 55,000 federal employees in Ohio as of March........

© Mother Jones