GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy donates $10K to Daniel Penny’s legal fund

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has donated $10,000 to Daniel Penny’s legal fund after the ex-Marine was charged last week over Jordan Neely’s subway chokehold death.

The GOP 2024 hopeful forked over the money late Sunday as contributions to Penny’s defense inched closer to an eye-popping $2 million.

“Just donated. More of us should. We must restore the rule of law in America,” the 37-year-old tech entrepreneur tweeted in response to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who encouraged his followers to “show this Marine…America’s got his back.”

Ramaswamy is one of tens of thousands of supporters who have pitched in to help the 24-year-old Penny after he was slapped with a second-degree manslaughter charge Friday over the deadly encounter.

More than 40,000 donations had already been made to the GiveSendGo legal fund set up by Penny’s attorneys as of Monday morning.

The defense have argued Penny was acting in self-defense when he was filmed putting an agitated Neely into a fatal chokehold onboard an F train in Manhattan on May 1.

Lawyers for Neely’s family, however, have said the homeless man — who has a history of mental illness — wasn’t harming anyone and didn’t deserve to die.

Penny turned himself in to be arraigned on the criminal charge last week. He did not enter a plea and was subsequently released on $100,000 bond.

“The outpouring of support for Danny is always measured by the amount raised, but what is even more telling is that tens of thousands of people from all over the world have taken the time to donate,” Penny’s attorney, Steven M. Raiser, told The Post.

“This level of support demonstrates that the situation forced upon him in that subway car earlier this month, and his subsequent arrest, has struck a chord in the psyche of New Yorkers and has been echoed nationwide.

“The message being sent by this massive showing of support is that any attempt to undermine the right and duty to protect one another against an imminent threat will be challenged.”

DeSantis, who is expected to enter the Republican presidential race in the coming weeks, lauded Penny as a “Good Samaritan” deserving of America’s support and ripped Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office for bringing the charges against him.

“We must defeat the Soros-Funded DAs, stop the Left’s pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law abiding citizens,” DeSantis tweeted hours after Penny’s arraignment.

“We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny,” the Florida governor added, linking to the defense fund.

The money raised by the GiveSendGo campaign will go to Penny’s defense team at Raiser & Kenniff, the fundraising page says.

Any additional money will be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City.

In the wake of Neely’s death, loved one said he had been struggling with homelessness and mental illness in recent years.

Neely had also been arrested multiple times and had pleaded guilty to assaulting a 67-year-old woman leaving a subway station in 2021.