New American Hinduism?: Vivek Ramaswamy and Some Hindu Organizations Must Stop Cozying Up To Christian Nationalists

Vivek Ramaswamy, the Indian American entrepreneur turned politician, once toured college campuses alongside Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA. Kirk built his organization on vicious attacks against Mexicans, transgender people, Black Americans, and even Indians like Ramaswamy himself. Together, they spread a version of MAGA politics that often veered into exclusion. 

Kirk, for instance, labeled George Floyd a “scumbag” unworthy of national mourning in 2021, questioned the qualifications of Black pilots with “Boy, I hope he’s qualified,” and claimed Black women like Michelle Obama lack the “brain processing power” to succeed without affirmative action. Ramaswamy echoed this by calling transgender identity a “mental health disorder” that demands nationwide bans on youth care, dismissing the LGBTQ+ community as an “alphabet soup” tyranny of the minority. 

Kirk’s slur about George Floyd was particularly heinous because it callously dismissed Floyd’s agonizing final moments: handcuffed and pinned face-down on a Minneapolis street for over nine minutes, he gasped “I can’t breathe” 27 times, begged for his life and his mother, and suffered cardiac arrest from police restraint— a homicide ruled by autopsies, not the overdose Kirk implied. Ramaswamy’s choice to tour campuses with Kirk, amplifying such bigotry reveals his willingness to trade Vedanta’s truth for MAGA proximity, exposing a spurious “dharma” that excuses racism for personal gain.

A man who rose by amplifying such dehumanization—portraying immigrants as criminal invaders and Black Americans as victims of their own failings—cannot authentically champion Advaita’s truth that Brahman unites all, rendering no one the “other.” This LARPing for white nationalist approval exposes a profound hypocrisy, one that Vedanta would dismantle. Yet Ramaswamy pressed on, seeking acceptance from those who viewed him as an outsider. That effort backfired spectacularly last week at a Turning Point event in Bozeman, Montana, where Ramaswamy headlined in Kirk’s absence following the founder’s recent assassination.

‘Jesus Christ is God’

During the question and answer session, Ramaswamy tried to bridge his Hindu roots with the audience’s Christian worldview. He drew on Vedanta, the philosophical core of Hinduism, to argue for a shared monotheism. “I believe there’s one true God from the Vedanta tradition of Advaita philosophy,” he said, pointing out that belief in the Holy Trinity does not make Christians polytheists. He aimed to show common ground, insisting his faith aligned with conservative values without demanding a religious test for leadership, as the Constitution demands. But the crowd pushed back hard. One student declared, “Jesus Christ is God, and there is no other God.” Another accused him of “masquerading as a Christian,” while a third questioned how a Hindu could represent Ohio’s 64 percent Christian population. Ramaswamy, for all his eloquence, remained the “other” to them.

“Vivek taking a page out of the Rammohan Roy playbook with the point about the Trinity. The theology he outlines here has the making of what could be an ‘American Hinduism’ grounded in non-dualism…”

The backlash spilled online, amplifying the irony. Nalin Haley, son of Indian-American Republican leader Nikki Haley, fired off a pointed tweet. “Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse. Comparing the Holy Trinity to your 330 million gods is blasphemous, disrespectful, and a slap in the face to every Christian,” he wrote. Haley, who identifies as Christian despite his Sikh heritage, added “My Sikh grandparents never disrespected the Christian faith and compared their God to the Holy Trinity.” Replies to Haley echoed the crowd’s sentiment, with one user snarling, “You’re literally a Sikh Indian bro you’ll never be one of us let it go who cares. Larping weirdo.” Haley shot back, “I’m Catholic and mixed White/Indian. I like me. Don’t wanna be anything else.” 

Nalin Haley’s attempt to “own” Ramaswamy on X, asserting his Christian identity over Ramaswamy’s Hindu one, revealed his own muddled sense of faith and heritage. Despite his jab, Haley faced the same venom from white nationalists—‘wignats’—who attacked Ramaswamy. This toxic climate, fueled by MAGA’s divisive rhetoric, pits Americans against each other, turning even intra-minority critiques into fodder for exclusion. 

As someone who has delved into Asian and Indic mystical traditions for decades, including work on a forthcoming book about their diverse paths, I find Ramaswamy’s pitch deeply unsettling. Vedanta teaches Brahman, the singular essence underlying all existence that binds every being in unity. It calls us to recognize the divine in everyone, from the stranger to the outcast. To twist this into a bridge for white or Christian dominance is not just misguided; it inverts the tradition’s heart. Turning Point itself thrives on othering minorities, pushing for a society where white Christians hold sway. Ramaswamy’s attempt to fuse Vedanta with that agenda betrays the philosophy’s call for universal dignity.

Hindu American Silence

Worse, Ramaswamy shows no sign of rethinking his path. This refusal mirrors a broader silence among some Hindu American voices. The Hindu American Foundation (HAF), for instance, sidestepped the event’s ugliness. Instead of calling out the irony of Vedanta clashing with fascism, HAF co-founder Suhag Shukla took to X to defend Ramaswamy and chide Haley. She clarified that Ramaswamy had not equated the Trinity with Hindu deities, framing Haley’s critique as a misunderstanding. 

Similarly, Vishal Ganesan, a self-styled Hindu thought leader on X, celebrated the moment. He posted glowingly about how Ramaswamy’s words might spark a “new American Hinduism,” one tailored to conservative tastes. In the post, Ganesan wrote, “Vivek taking a page out of the Rammohan Roy playbook with the point about the Trinity. The theology he outlines here has the making of what could be an ‘American Hinduism’ grounded in non-dualism…” This praise, framing Ramaswamy’s remarks as a bridge to American values, overlooks the event’s undercurrent of Christian nationalist rejection and bigotry. Yet Ganesan doesn’t seem bothered about MAGA’s dehumanization of Black, Latino, or transgender Americans. Nor has HAF spoken against ICE’s rough handling of migrants or the militias storming cities to target the vulnerable, from minors to the elderly and disabled, to an autistic man caught in the chaos. 

Ganesan appears to have an atavistic fixation on religious identity, to the extent it has become his raison d’être. One observer expressed his misgivings, writing, “at this point, American Hindus need to think why do they need a different theology to succeed in politics while Hindus from other diaspora don’t need it for winning an election. Either, they suck at politics or theology (religion) is merely an instrument in their politics.” Another wrote, “American Hinduism”. Wow, this has got to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve read recently.”

HAF’s intentions

What sort of dharma guides these figures? They invoke Hindu ideals while ignoring the suffering next door. I’ve engaged with Suhag Shukla as a journalist, even sympathizing with her on occasion. I’ve also written on cultural misappropriation and America’s yoga industry, but I’ve become wary of HAF’s intentions. If Hindus in the U.S. refuse to name the far right’s racism, which surges unchecked, why claim kinship with them? Their focus on temple vandalism or anti-Indian slurs, real as those are, feels narrow when stacked against centuries of pain borne by Black and indigenous communities since America’s founding. Hindus face pinpricks compared to those deeper wounds.

To thrive in this mosaic nation, Hindu Americans must build bridges, not bunkers. Join other minorities in fighting authoritarian creep, from deportation raids to faith-based exclusion. Protestations of Hindu plight will ring hollow without standing for the vulnerable. Ramaswamy risks becoming a punchline, a stain on the faith he claims. HAF and its online boosters could follow suit, isolated and dismissed.

A tale from Adi Shankaracharya, the 8th-century sage who revived Advaita Vedanta, holds a vital lesson for Vivek Ramaswamy and his supporters. While traveling in Varanasi with his disciples, Shankaracharya encountered a Chandala, a man from the lowest caste, often deemed “untouchable” in India’s rigid social order. Initially, Shankaracharya, steeped in traditional norms, asked the man to step aside to avoid ritual impurity. The Chandala challenged him, asking, “If Brahman is the one reality pervading all, how can you distinguish between a Brahmin and an outcast?” Struck by this wisdom, Shankaracharya realized the man was Lord Shiva in disguise, testing his understanding. Humbled, he prostrated before the Chandala, recognizing the divine unity beneath all forms. This moment, documented in texts like the Shankara Digvijaya, crystallized his teaching: Brahman, the singular essence, dissolves caste, creed, and division. 

For Ramaswamy, who courts Christian nationalists despite their rejection of his Hindu identity, this story exposes his error. Chasing acceptance from those who “other” him mirrors Shankaracharya’s initial recoil—both miss the truth that no one is separate. Ramaswamy and allies like HAF must learn this: true dharma rejects exclusionary ideologies, embracing the universal self. Pandering to division risks not just ridicule, but a betrayal of Vedanta’s heart. Enlightenment lies in seeing no “other,” only Brahman in all.

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Vikram Zutshi is an American journalist and filmmaker specializing in religion, art, history, politics and culture.