Indian-origin Vivek Ramaswamy, a health care and tech sector entrepreneur, conservative commentator, and author has launched his 2024 presidential bid with a promise to “put merit back” and end dependence on China, becoming the second community member to enter the Republican Party’s presidential primary after Nikki Haley.

Ramaswamy, 37, whose parents migrated to the United States from Kerala and worked at a General Electric plant in Ohio, announced his presidential bid during a live interview on Fox News’s prime time show of Tucker Carlson, a conservative political commentator.

He is the second Indian-American to enter the Republican presidential primary.