[Hoot Gibson]

I am going to predict here that if Vivek Ramaswamy gains any significant support during the Republican primary season, Trump will smear him as a "Soros Fellow." I have already seen a Trump supporter on a conservative website post the smear. I had assumed that Ramaswamy had accepted funding for his college education from an organization affiliated with George Soros, but I was wrong.

Ramaswamy was a Soros Fellow, but the organization that partially funded his Ivy League education was founded by Paul Soros and his wife. As far as I can tell, Paul Soros was a Democrat, who donated relatively modest amounts (for a multi-millionaire) to mostly Democrat candidates, but also to at least a couple of Republicans, including John McCain. 

Paul Soros was the older brother of George Soros but his net worth was much lower than his younger brother's and he was never accused of criminal acts.

The criteria for receiving the fellowship that Ramaswamy received was as follows:

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans program uses three primary criteria for selection of Fellows:

1. The candidate has demonstrated [i]creativity, originality and initiative[/i] in one or more aspects of her/his life.
   
2. The candidate has demonstrated a commitment to and capacity for accomplishment that has required drive and sustained effort.
   
3. The candidate has demonstrated a commitment to the values expressed in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This would include, but not be limited to, support of human rights and the rule of law, opposition to unwarranted encroachment on personal liberty, and advancing the responsibilities of citizenship in a free society.
   

In addition, the program considers two further criteria:

1. The candidate gives promise of continued significant contributions. Those contributions are likely to reflect distinctive creativity, originality and initiative and will mark the candidate as a leading and influential figure within her/his fields of endeavor.
   
2. The candidate's graduate training is relevant to her/his long-term career goals and is of potential value in enhancing her/his future creativity and accomplishment.
   

The bottom line is that Paul Soros was not the radical left wing kook that his little brother is and to smear Ramaswamy as a "Soros Fellow" without context is literally using the truth to deceive.