Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the 2024 presidential race Monday night after a disappointing showing in the Iowa caucuses and endorsed former President Donald Trump.
The 38-year-old entrepreneur was not well known when he entered the race in February 2023, in his first run for political office. But he quickly broke through with Republican voters in a campaign that aligned with Trump in both tone and policy substance, as he positioned himself as an heir to the MAGA movement.
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But his campaign was unable to pull much support away from Trump, who retained the loyalty of Republican voters despite Ramaswamy’s efforts to convince them that he’d be better able to push the “America First” agenda he and Trump both championed.
As the campaign got closer to Iowa, Ramaswamy’s rhetoric took on an increasingly conspiratorial bent, imploring supporters to “wake up” and speaking of plots and forces working to shape the election. His pitch to Trump fans was convoluted: He told supporters not to “waste” their votes on Trump because “they” would not “let him anywhere near the White House,” citing the criminal cases against the former president and the battles to keep him off the ballot on 14th Amendment grounds in Colorado and Maine.
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But, three days before the Iowa caucuses, Trump took direct aim at Ramaswamy for calling him “wounded.” In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “Vivek started his campaign as a great supporter, 'the best President in generations,' etc. Unfortunately now all he does is disguise his support in the form of deceitful campaign tricks.”
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