Washington, Aug 18 (IANS): Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Friday praised Indian-American Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, calling him a "promising candidate".

Sharing a video of Ramaswamy's interview with political commentator and talk show host Tucker Carlson on X (formerly Twitter), Musk said: "He is a very promising candidate."

Ramaswamy, who is the youngest presidential candidate at 38, entered the now crowded Republican presidential nomination contest as an outsider in February.

He is now positioned at number three, just after former president Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

The tech entrepreneur has the support of 9 per cent of leaders within the Republican Party, while Trump has a staggering 47 per cent, followed by 19 per cent for Ron DeSantis.

Known to mince no words, Ramaswamy has said that China is the biggest threat that the US faces and that he would go for "complete decoupling" with Beijing if voted to power.

He has even vowed to "promptly" pardon Trump if elected to the White House next year, and has even earned praises from the former President for doing well in a Republican Primary poll.

Meanwhile, Ramaswamy and other Republican rivals are actively preparing for the Republican Party's first 2024 presidential debate next week.

Media reports quoting a senior adviser said that Ramaswamy is doing no formal preparation for the debate as he pursues a whirlwind campaign schedule.

He will spend the day before the debate playing tennis and spending time with family.

Republicans will meet in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from July 15-18, 2024, for their national convention to formally select their party's next presidential nominee.