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Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate now vying to be Ohio’s governor, wants to follow in President Donald Trump’s footsteps and rename yet another body of water.
The biotech entrepreneur was speaking to the Lucas County Republican Party last week when he pitched the idea to rename Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes, to “Lake Ohio.”
“I like what President Trump’s done with the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of America,” Ramaswamy said.
Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico as “Gulf of America” last month.
“Anybody think if there’s a Lake Michigan, maybe there should be a Lake Ohio around here? I’m feeling that, so we’ll talk about that a little bit more as this campaign progresses,” Ramaswamy continued.
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Lake Erie — bordered by Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania — is named for the Indigenous Erie people who lived along the lake’s southern shore.
A spokesperson for Ramaswamy’s campaign later told the Cincinnati Enquirer the 39-year-old was only joking.
“The audience understood it was a joke,” the spokesperson said. “Perhaps the media will someday get a sense of humor. Vivek is focused on real policies to Make Ohio Great Again.”
His opponent for the GOP nomination, Attorney General Dave Yost, responded by noting that the lake is mentioned in the state constitution, and the governor does not have the authority to change the name, according to ABC6.
Ramaswamy’s gubernatorial bid follows his appointment to lead the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk. Some reports indicated Musk fired Ramaswamy because the two didn’t get along – but the biotech entrepreneur denied those claims.
“No, we had a mutual discussion and I wish him well, we’re on the same page, we’re divide and conquer and saving the country, it’s not a one-man show from the top down or the bottom up, it’s all of the above,” Ramaswamy told Fox News.
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Musk is ready to support his gubernatorial bid, too, having referred to him as “Governor Ramaswamy” on X.
Ramaswamy appeared confident in his bid before it even officially launched, telling the Wall Street Journal in early February that he intends to be a two-term governor.
“Those eight years will go by quickly,” Ramaswamy said.
Ramaswamy is running to take over the seat in 2026, when Governor Mike DeWine hits his term limit. Attorney General David Yost is facing off against Ramaswamy in the Republican primary, while the only Democratic candidate is former state health department director Amy Acton.
