Read Vivek Ramaswamy's Fiery Closing Statement From Republican Debate

In the absence of former President Donald Trump, political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy emerged as the surprise winner of the first debate of the Republican primary on Wednesday.

Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old entrepreneur from Ohio, began his campaign as a long-shot candidate running against other heavy-hitters like Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. But this week, he cemented himself as a viable threat to his rivals with a fiery stage presence that dominated the GOP event in Milwaukee.

Repeatedly, Ramaswamy baited his opponents into tousling with him, getting attacked just as many times as Trump did, according to a tracker from The New York Times, a sign of his recent ascension.

Onstage, Ramaswamy did not hold back against the other White House hopefuls, calling them "super PAC puppets" and criticizing them for using "ready-made, pre-prepared slogans" in their attacks against him.

"The real choice we face in this primary is this: do you want a super PAC puppet or do you want a patriot who speaks the truth? Do you want incremental reform, which is what you're hearing about? Or do you want revolution? And I stand on the side of the American Revolution, rather than this incrementalism," the biotech entrepreneur told viewers at home.

He earned criticisms of his own, from former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who said, "I've had enough of a guy who stands up here who sounds like ChatGPT," and former Vice President Mike Pence, who said, "Now is not the time for on-the-job training. We don't need to bring in a rookie."

Former South Carolina Governor and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, also slammed Ramaswamy for his assertions about Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, telling him "You have no foreign policy experience, and it shows."

Citing Ramaswmay's remarks about leaving Taiwan to China, handing Russia parts of eastern Ukraine and curtailing military aid to Israel, Haley told viewers, "He will make America less safe."

Ramaswamy began the night by addressing "the question that is on everybody's mind," introducing himself as a political outsider who embodies the American dream.

"Who the heck is this skinny guy with a funny last name and what the heck is he doing in the middle of this debate stage?" Ramaswamy asked. "I'll tell you, I'm not a politician...you're right about that. I'm an entrepreneur.

"My parents came to this country with no money 40 years ago. I have gone on to found multi-billion dollar companies. I did it while marrying my wife, Apoorva, raising our two sons, following our faith in God. That is the American dream."

He concluded with a brief but passionate summary of his policy ideas that included religion, gender ideology, race in America, immigration, the federal government, and a call to "revive" the ideals written in the constitution.

Read his full closing statement below:

I was born in 1985 and I grew up into a generation where we were taught to celebrate our diversity and our differences so much that we forgot all of the ways that we are really just the same as Americans, bound together by a common set of ideals that set this nation into motion in 1776. And this is our moment to revive those common ideals. God is real. There are two genders. Fossil fuels are a requirement for human prosperity. Reverse racism is racism. An open border is not a border. Parents determine the education of their children. The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to man. Capitalism lifts us up from poverty. There are three branches of government, not four. And the U.S. Constitution, it is the strongest guarantor of freedom in human history. That is what won us the American revolution. That is what will win us the revolution of 2024.