The Indian American entrepreneur and scientist goes after the progressive icon early and hard.
After taking on Gawker and becoming $750,000 richer, Shiva Ayyadurai is going after an even bigger and more powerful target: liberal icon Sen. Elizabeth Warren. And he already has on his roaster a Boston ace, who is ready to pitch for him in the electoral battle: Curt Schilling, he of the “Bloody Socks.”
The Indian American, who claims that he invented the email, first announced his candidacy on February 25, a Hindu festival day. The Bombay-born entrepreneur and scientist told his 26,000 plus Twitter followers: “Today, ShivaRatri, when Light overcame Darkness, we launched my campaign for US SENATE against @SenWarren. Defend the American Dream!”
On his campaign website, Ayyadurai states: “I’ll always be grateful for the opportunities I’ve found here (America). Now I’m committed to preserving, protecting, and expanding those opportunities for the citizens of Massachusetts and for all Americans. That’s the new American Revolution, and I hope you’ll join me in this fight.”
Ayyadurai, who has four MIT degrees, is currently the Chairman & CEO of CytoSolve, Inc., which provides a platform for modeling complex diseases as well as for discovering multi-combination therapeutics.
The Indian American, who is so far the only declared Republican candidate, has been going after Warren right from the beginning, hashtaging her as “FAKEFIGHTER” on Twitter. During her political carrier, the Massachusetts senior senator has earned a name as fighter for consumers and the working class.
In a recent tweet, he launched a rather Trumpesque attack on the senator for her call to increase federal investment in medical research:
“Warren doesn’t REALLY understand Medicine or Innovation. Her mumbo jumbo is just about throwing $$’s. Dumb!”
Schilling, a Boston Red Sox great and favorite of the conservatives, was among the first to endorse Ayyadurai, an immigrant from India who moved to the United States, along with his parents, when he was 7.
Schilling, now a Breitbat contributor who had himself considered a run, tweeted on February 28:
“Stay hot @elizabethforma , you are going to get destroyed [by] a REAL India come election”
Great to be in the SAME team with Curt Schilling @gehrig38 on getting a REAL Indian in the US Senate from MA! pic.twitter.com/OKLwSdyeyC
— V.A. SHIVA (@va_shiva) March 1, 2017
So far Ayyadurai and his supporters have never wasted a chance to remind everyone that he is a “real Indian” in the race. It is a jibe at Warren, whose last Senate race opponent, former Republican Sen. Scott Brown, charged that she had fabricated her Native American ancestry to gain professional advantage. Candidate Trump had also mocked Warren by calling her “the Indian” and “Pocahontas” during the 2016 campaign.
Since Ayyadurai’s announcement, Shilling has been throwing 100-mile flames at Warren on Twitter at regular intervals.
He tweeted on March 25: “You are everything wrong with this nation, every single thing. A lying fraudulent system rigging insider.” Ayyadurai was tagged in the tweet.
@SenWarren You are everything wrong with this nation, every single thing. A lying fraudulent system rigging insider. @va_shiva in 18
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) March 25, 2017
Ayyadurai came to the US at the age of seven in 1970 and excelled in his studies with four degrees from MIT. He went on to become a renowned systems scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur.
Ayyadurai shot to fame after he claimed that he invented email at the age of 14 as a Research Fellow at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Science at NYU.
According to Ayyadurai, he developed the first electronic emulation of the entire interoffice mail system (Inbox, Outbox, Folders, Address Book and Memo), which he named “EMAIL.” He does hold a patent for “EMAIL,” which is described by the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a “Computer program for electronic mail system,”
Ayyadurai, sued Gawker, which later went bankrupt, after it wrote an article disparaging him. The case was settled for $750,000.
It is too early to say how formidable a candidate Ayyadurai would be. He is the only Republican who has announced his candidacy. Other potential candidates include State Representative Geoff Diehl, former State Representative Daniel Winslow, and prominent GOP donor John Kingston. Event New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s name is in conversation, although that is highly unlikely given the fact that the 5-time Super Bowl winner is contracted through 2019.
Massachusetts is a blue state, but it has a history of electing Republicans to highest offices. The current Governor Charlie Baker is a Republican. The 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney used his tenure as the Bay State governor to jump start his presidential run.
The last Republican US senator from the state was Brown, who lost to Warren in 2012.