Republican 2024 hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has begun to target former President Donald Trump, the Washington Examiner reports. 

For those unfamiliar with Ramaswamy, he is a wealthy biotech and healthcare entrepreneur.

Ramaswamy entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination in late February. Thus far, the only two other Republicans to officially announce their candidacy are Trump and Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and former United States ambassador to the United Nations.

Trump, though, is widely considered the top dog, and, perhaps, this is why Ramaswamy has already begun targeting Trump.

Ramaswamy goes on the offensive

In a recent interview with the New York Post, Ramaswamy criticized Trump's handling of a variety of issues, including affirmative action, the U.S.-Mexico border, and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

During the interview, Ramaswamy claimed that Trump "could have ended affirmative action with the stroke of a pen." But, according to Ramaswamy, "he didn’t."

Ramaswamy, here, was referring to Executive Order 11246 of 1965, which mandates "race-based quotas" for government contractors. Ramaswamy, were he to be elected president, plans to repeal the order.

Ramaswamy went on to criticize Trump for not using the U.S. military to address the southern border crisis - something that Ramaswamy, also, intends to do should he become president.

Finally, Ramaswamy argued that Trump should have done more to control Fauci during the COVID pandemic. In fact, Ramaswamy believes that Trump should have fired Fauci.

"He's a friend"

Elsewhere in the interview, Ramaswamy made it clear that his criticism of Trump, here, is meant to be constructive.

Ramaswamy said that Trump set the bar "high" with his presidency. And, Ramaswamy further stated that he considers Trump "a friend," saying, "He’s a friend. I know him. I genuinely believe he cares about national unity.”

Whether Trump feels the same way after Ramaswamy's Post interview is unclear. Trump was busy over the weekend at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC). And, at the time of this writing, Trump has not responded to Ramaswamy's remarks.

One thing that is for sure, though, is that the race for 2024 is just starting to boil. At the moment, there are only three official candidates in the Republican field, but that number is expected to grow significantly. Other potential candidates include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and many, many others.

Current polling, nonetheless, suggests that Trump and DeSantis are the two frontrunners, by far.