Jake Paul is keeping his political ties strong, because GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will be VIP'd up when "The Problem Child" steps in the ring this weekend ... TMZ Sports has learned.
Vivek's spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin tells us the presidential hopeful is heading to Orlando to support Jake during his Friday night showdown with Andre August ... and says they've actually become good friends.
We're told Jake's hooked up Vivek with ringside seats -- he'll be seated next to Jake's pals and teammates when the first round bell rings. Once it's over, Vivek plans to get a quick face-to-face catch-up with Jake and his fam ... before heading straight back to Iowa for 6 scheduled campaign events on Saturday.
The bond between Ramaswamy and Paul is no secret, thanks to Jake recruiting the candidate for a joint TikTok dance in September, which went viral.
While it might have seemed like a stunt done for fun and games, Vivek later explained during a GOP debate why he thinks TikTok is vital for winning elections ... it's all about influencing the next-gen.
Make no mistake, Ramaswamy needs some kinda spark -- he's currently polling behind Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose home turf he'll be on this evening.