Best-selling author and biotech multimillionaire Vivek Ramaswamy ended his bid to become the GOP nominee for president after failing to break out of single digits in the Iowa caucuses Monday night. The move is viewed as good news for former President Donald Trump, likely to add a few points to his already formidable lead in New Hampshire.
Ramaswamy made his announcement after Trump’s victory speech Monday night. After days of bashing Ramaswamy as a fake (“Don’t waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA,” Trump said on Truth Social), Trump went out of his way to praise the 38-year-old anti-woke activist.
Minutes later, Ramaswamy took the stage at his campaign event and told his supporters it was time to end his campaign.
“This entire campaign is about speaking the truth,” he said, including hard truths about himself and his campaign. “We did not achieve the surprise that we wanted to deliver tonight,” Ramaswamy told supporters in Iowa. He added: “There is no path for me to be the next president absent things that we don’t want to see happen in this country.”
“Tonight, I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Donald J. Trump and will do everything I can to make sure he is the next U.S. president,” Ramaswamy said.
Ramaswamy was a virtual unknown when he entered the presidential race. He used his wealth and media savvy to get his support above nine percent in New Hampshire over the summer. But since then, his support has softened, and he was at around five percent in the RealClearPolitics average.
But given Ramaswamy’s support for Trump and polls showing his supporters also have a positive view of the former president, that five percent is likely to go to Trump. And that’s important in a state where he’s already averaging around 45 percent support in most recent polling. Ramaswamy’s support could push Trump above the 50 percent mark in New Hampshire, too.
Ramaswamy’s New Hampshire voters are almost certainly not going to Nikki Haley, who frequently battled with him on the debate stage. In perhaps the most memorable moment of the GOP campaign thus far, Haley told Ramaswamy, “Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber.”
His Granite State supporters are happy to see Ramaswamy on board with the former president.
“Vivek absolutely made the right decision this evening on two fronts,” said state Rep. Fred Doucette (R-Salem), one of Ramaswamy’s top Granite State supporters. “The Republican Party and the American people have made it clear. They want Donald Trump to be their president. And it’s even more abundantly clear that the ‘America First’ agenda needs to go forward. And that doesn’t end with this election. It has to carry forward if we are to remain the greatest country on earth.”
“Reelecting President Trump is priority one,” Doucette added. “And I personally look forward very much to reelecting Donald J.Trump president of the United States.”
