Who played Cory Matthews in Boy Meets World? Vivek Ramaswamy cites popular sitcom as he explains why tech companies hire foreign-born engineers

Vivek Ramaswamy recently indulged in a conversation about immigration and H-1B visas in the US on X, citing the popular 90s sitcom Boy Meets World as one of the shows that "venerated mediocrity over excellence." His opinion was in his defense of why many US tech companies opted to hire foreign-born engineers instead of Americans, claiming it all had to do with American culture.

Boy Meets World is a 90s sitcom telecast on ABC that followed the life of Cory Matthews (portrayed by Ben Savage). The sitcom ran for seven seasons between 1993 and 2000 and spawned a spin-off series titled Girl Meets World in 2014, starring singer Sabrina Carpenter and Rowan Blanchard, among others.

Vivek Ramaswamy's tweet came after several big tech leaders like Elon Musk argued with right-wing supporters about why the government should advocate for lenient laws for H-1B visas to allow Silicon Valley to hire foreign engineers. In his tweets, Musk argued that the US lacked "talented and motivated" engineers as opposed to countries like India.

Many Americans were seemingly outraged at US companies allegedly looking outside the country for labor. However, Ramaswamy argued that companies tended to do this because American culture allegedly "promoted mediocrity." He cited several US shows, including Boy Meets World and Saved by the Bell, which he believed praised popularity over intelligence.

"Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG. A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers," he tweeted on December 26.

He continued:

"A culture that venerates Cory from “Boy Meets World,” or Zach & Slater over Screech in “Saved by the Bell,” or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in “Family Matters,” will not produce the best engineers."

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Boy Meets World follows Cory Matthews from his teens to adulthood

Actor Ben Savage starred as the main character Cory Matthews in Boy Meets World, which chronicled his growth from a middle schooler to an adult. Along with playing Cory Matthews, Savage has also appeared in shows like Criminal Minds and Girl Meets World.

In Boy Meets World, Cory navigates life surrounded by his best friend, Shawn Hunter, his parents, his older brother, Eric Matthews, and his love interest, Topanga Lawrence, among other characters.

In season 1, Cory is an 11-year-old Philadelphia middle school student. As the seasons progress, Cory goes through high school, graduating in season 5 with his girlfriend Topanga proposing to him.

In season six, Topanga and Cory get engaged and enroll in college. In the final season, the couple gets married, with Cory and the gang moving to New York City to start their professional lives.

According to the show's fandom wiki, Boy Meets World was succeeded by its sequel, Girl Meets World. The latter show aired on Disney Channel between 2014 and 2017 and saw many of the original cast reprising their roles.

Girl Meets World follows Cory and Topanga's daughter, Riley, as she navigates high school with her best friend, Maya Hart (played by Sabrina Carpenter). Ben Savage returned to his role as Cory Matthews, a history teacher at the same high school where his daughter studies.

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Along with Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy was appointed as co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by President-elect Donald Trump.