Video Producer: Aparna Singh
Video Editor: Mohd. Irshad Alam
Indian-American aeronautical engineer Hirsh Vardhan Singh has now joined a crowded pool of Republican candidates for President of the United States – and become the third Indian American to do so, alongside former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Via a video posted on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) on 28 July, 38-year-old Singh publicised his campaign for the Republican nomination for the US President.
“While President Trump was undoubtedly the greatest president of my lifetime, and had my support as a MAGA Republican since day one, America needs more.”Hirsh Vardhan Singh
A 'Lifelong Republican' With an Unsuccessful Political Career So Far
While Singh claims that he “helped restore the conservative wing of New Jersey’s Republican Party, starting in 2017” in his announcement, his political career has been largely unsuccesful.
He ran for New Jersey Governer in 2017 and 2021 but lost in the Republican primary both times, receiving 9.76% of the votes in 2017 and 21.6% in 2021, according to Ballotpedia, a digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections.
His most successful campaign was his run for New Jersey Senator in 2020, where he closely lost to Rik Mehta in the Republican Primary. Singh comments on his campaign website that this was “despite endorsement for ballot placement from only 4 of 21 counties”.
Born 13 March 1985 to Indian parents in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Singh is a graduate from the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a BS in engineering science, biomedical tissue engineering, and material science in 2009.
In his video, he claims to have been a “lifelong republican”, joining Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), a libertarian student activism organisation, in his university days.
According to Singh’s LinkedIn, he currently works as the Vice President of Operations and Growth at Engineering & Information Technologies, a small federal contractor out of New Jersey.
Views on Social Issues
Singh describes himself as an “America First, Constitutional Carry, and Pro-Life Conservative”. According to his recently published video, his strong right-wing views caused New Jersey’s Democrat Senate President Nicholas Scutari to refer to him as ‘Trump on steroids’.
On his campaign website, he lists his views as:
Pro-Life
Protect minors from their bodies being mutilated
Protect the right to freedom of association of women including the integrity of women’s sports and other women’s activities
End political and viewpoint discrimination in universities receiving federal funds
Ensure that all minorities get photo IDs, especially in states like New York and California
End Illegal immigration and create a path to citizenship (DACA and legal migrants)
While discussing his political stance, Singh has expressed his views as “pro-human and pro-growth” – and has stated that "legal immigration is the only way to go".
Singh is also vehemently anti-vaccine. In his candidacy announcement, he mentions being the “only pure-blood candidate for President because he never gave in to the COVID vaccinations”.
Economic, Technological, and Foreign Policy
The presidential hopeful has aggressively opposed all forms of censorship, stating on his website that he wants to “end censorship by Big Tech”.
His economic ideologies, stated on his campaign webpage, includes lowering taxes, drilling for oil in the US, and “phasing out federal support for student loans to force universities to set competitive tuition rates”.
Singh’s foreign policy mentions “opposing Chinese aggression and a nuclear Iran”. He also holds highly conservative views on climate change, mentioning that he refuses to “give up American sovereignty to an international body in the name of Climate Action”.
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