Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is suing the World Economic Forum (WEF) for affiliating him as one of its “Young Global Leaders,” despite rejecting the request and repeatedly asking to be removed from its list of members.
“I fundamentally disagree with the WEF agenda,” Ramaswamy said in a post on Twitter Tuesday. “I’ve been one of the biggest crusaders in our country against it. They named me a ‘young global leader’ when I explicitly said no. Now it’s time to hold them accountable for it.”
Ramaswamy argued that the organization of global elites also listed other young and successful business leaders on the forum without their consent.
In a poll initiated by the 37-year-old businessman-turned-politician, he asked his 456,000 followers to vote on whether they think he should sue the WEF, with over 29,000 Twitter users responding to it. The result showed a whopping 90 percent in favor of filing a lawsuit against the organization, which is headquartered in Geneva.
Should I sue the World Economic Forum?
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) April 18, 2023
In a statement on Wednesday, Ramaswamy formally announced that he’s filing a lawsuit against the WEF, saying it’s time to hold the organization accountable “for creating the false illusion of affiliation” in order to undermine its adversaries.
“Our Founding Fathers fought the American Revolution to declare independence from the Old World monarchy,” Ramaswamy said. “That old monster now rears its head again in the form of WEF’s agendas including ‘stakeholder capitalism’ and the ‘Great Reset.’ That’s why I’ve been one of the most vocal crusaders in America against WEF.”
According to the New York Post, citing the lawsuit, Ramaswamy filed it in a court in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Wednesday and is seeking only nominal damages of $2,500.
The lawsuit, per the Post, reads: “The WEF seemingly exploited this false and manufactured affiliation with Mr. Ramaswamy to undermine his credibility as a critic of the World Economic Forum and its objectives.”
“This is an organization that does a lot of wrongs and I’ve opposed it publicly and believe it should be held accountable,” Ramaswamy told the paper. “The WEF has a radical worldview that rejects the principles America was founded on. I’m not interested in being a ‘global citizen.’ I’m an American.”
Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur who founded and leads biopharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences, appeared on the WEF’s 2021 list of Young Global Leaders (YGL) before his name was pulled from the website, an archived version shows.
A WEF spokesperson told the Daily Caller that the organization invited Ramaswamy to become a member of the YGL community, but he declined the proposal.
“An individual does not formally become a member of the YGL community until they accept a nomination,” the spokesperson told the publication.
‘Control the World’
Critics of the WEF often claim that the organization is working to control the world through its influence on global politics and the economy. They typically argue that WEF’s focus on globalization and its promotion of neoliberal economic policies are evidence of this goal.
Additionally, some critics of the WEF view with disdain its exclusive, invitation-only membership and its annual meeting in Davos, which reinforce the organization’s elitist image.
In January, millions of Twitter users responded to a poll initiated by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, asking his 135 million followers whether they think the WEF should “control the world.” The vast majority of respondents voted that it would be bad if the elite gathering organization controlled everything.
The WEF says its mission is to improve the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to “shape global, regional and industry agendas.”
Epoch Times reporter Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.