Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday dropped out of US Presidential race after a dismal show in Iowa debates. Former president Donald Trump won Iowa Caucus, the US' first nominating contest, Bloomberg reported quoting a source.
“As I’ve said since the beginning, there are two America First candidates in this race, and I called Donald Trump to tell him that,” Ramaswamy told supporters in Des Moines late on Monday after Trump’s decisive victory in the nation’s first nominating contest. “Going forward he will have my full endorsement,” Ramaswamy said.
Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old entrepreneur who was unknown when he entered the presidential race, had earlier told the Wall Street Journal that Trump may become ineligible to run due to his many legal challenges.
Ramaswamy on Monday finished fourth in Iowa, NBC News reported, coming way behind Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Prior to the results, an average of Iowa surveys by The Hill found Trump at 53 per cent, Haley at 18 per cent and DeSantis at 15 per cent. But later, DeSantis surpassed Haley.
Speaking to reporters after his speech, Ramaswamy said he had expected to draw more first-time caucusgoers. He said he hadn’t been anticipating earlier today that he would be dropping out, and said he was “a little surprised by what happened tonight.”
“Tomorrow, I will join Donald Trump at a rally in New Hampshire to share our vision for the country’s future,” Ramaswamy added after losing out at Iowa.
“We will work to make sure Donald Trump is next president,” the Indian-American former presidential hopeful vouched for Trump even after the former President's last week scathing remark.
Ramaswamy entered the US presidential race in February 2023, his first run for political office. He quickly won the confidence of 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.
His campaign failed to attract significant support from Trump, as Republican voters remained loyal to him despite Ramaswamy's attempts to persuade them that he would be more effective in advancing the "America First" agenda.
Three days prior to the Iowa caucuses, Trump specifically targeted Ramaswamy for referring to him as "wounded".
In a post on social media, former president 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.”
On the other hand, President Joe Biden issued a plea for supporters to donate to his campaign in the wake of Trump’s victory in Iowa.
“Looks like Donald Trump just won Iowa. He’s the clear front runner on the other side at this point,” Biden wrote on X.
“But here’s the thing: this election was always going to be you and me vs. extreme MAGA Republicans. It was true yesterday and it’ll be true tomorrow,” Biden added.
Roughly 100,000 Iowans turned out to the Republican caucuses Monday evening in the face of blizzard conditions and subzero temperatures, the Iowa GOP said. In the 2016 Republican caucus, 186,874 had taken part.
“Iowans braved record-low temperatures after a blizzard blanketed their state just days earlier to deliberate with members of their community about the future of our country and participate in true, grassroots democracy,” the Iowa GOP said in a statement.