Jake Paul greets Visek Ramaswamy ahead of fight vs Andre August after inviting the Republican presidential candidate and his good friend to sit ringside in Orlando

Jake Paul was greeted by good friend and Republican presidential candidate Visek Ramaswamy as he arrived for his fight with Andre August on Friday night.

Paul is set to return to the ring against August, a professional boxer with a record of 10 wins from 12 fights, in Orlando four months after defeating UFC star Nate Diaz.

Ahead of his latest outing, the YouTuber-turned-fighter extended an invite to Ramaswamy to watch him take on August from ringside.

Earlier in the day, Ramaswamy’s spokesperson Tricia McLaughin told TMZ that the presidential hopeful is heading to Orlando to support Paul as the two have become ‘good friends’. 

After the fight, he plans to quickly catch up with The Problem Child before heading straight to Iowa for six scheduled campaign events on Saturday, per McLaughin. 

Their friendship first became public when Paul posted a dance video with Ramaswamy on TikTok in September. 

The video has been repeatedly brought up to Ramaswamy throughout the Republican debates due to TikTok’s ties to the Chinese government.

In response, Ramaswamy argues that TikTok and ‘reaching the next generation of young Americans where they are,’ will be a key part of winning the elections. 

In another clip, Ramaswamy sarcastically addressed the criticism towards his social media use while taking a jab at other candidates. 

‘The reason professional politicians don’t wanna talk to young people on social media is that they’re scared of unscripted conversations,’ Ramaswamy said. 

‘Good thing I’m not a professional politician.’ 

On the other hand, Paul has 25.5million followers on Instagram and 17.3m on TikTok. His social media following gave Paul a platform to pursue a career in boxing, both in the ring and as a promoter. Paul also signed an MMA contract with the Professional Fighters League in January but is yet to make his first appearance. 

Paul became the face of influencer boxing by beating fellow online stars and retired athletes. He currently holds a 7-1 record and is coming off a win over former UFC star Nate Diaz back in August.  

The ‘Problem Child’ is facing August, 10-1-1, in a cruiserweight bout at the Caribe Royale Orlando.