JD Vance backs Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio Governor race. Then recalls a meme

US Vice President JD Vance has backed fellow Republican and Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy in the Ohio Governor's race, calling him a "great friend" and saying he will "make a great Governor".

Vance's endorsement came weeks after 41-year-old Ramaswamy was booed and heckled off the stage at the Young Americans for Liberty conference in Cincinnati, where his remarks angered what was expected to be a friendly crowd.

Speaking at a rally in Ohio on Friday, Vance said, "We've also got, I believe, a great gubernatorial candidate, but also a great next Governor of Ohio, my friend Vivek Ramaswamy."

The Vice President, who was speaking at a public rally for the first time since the birth of his fourth child with wife Usha Vance, also recounted his favourite "internet meme". It featured an AI-modified image of his second child and 6-year-old son, who is also named Vivek and Ramaswamy.

Vance said that he had taken his son to a polling station in Ohio when he returned to the state to vote in the primary elections several weeks before. The boy accompanied him throughout the day, and even filled out a mock ballot for children at the station, choosing between options such as "caramel apples and watermelon".

Someone later posted online that he had taken "his son Vivek" to vote and used AI to generate an image of him walking hand-in-hand towards the polling station with Ramaswamy instead.

"But I don't think that anybody needed to encourage Vivek to go to the polling location that day. When your name is on the ballot, nobody needs to make you go vote," the Vice President said, drawing laughter from the audience.

Backed by US President Donald Trump, Ramaswamy won the Republican primary in May and is now the party's candidate for the November election to choose Ohio's governor. He is up against Democrat Amy Acton, who, if victorious, will be the first from her party to win the Ohio Governor's office in 20 years.

Ramaswamy, a former co-chair of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, had also launched a presidential campaign in 2024 before dropping out and backing the eventual President. The son of immigrants from India's southern state of Kerala, he was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, studied at Harvard University and Yale Law School, and later entered the biotechnology and financial sectors.

He founded the biotech firm Roivant Sciences and served as its chief executive officer from 2014 to 2021. With Vance now publicly supporting him after his primary win and recent campaign setback, Ramaswamy remains the Republican candidate for Ohio's gubernatorial election in November.