(RepublicanReport.org) – The field of Republican presidential candidates hoping to defeat former President Donald Trump continues to dwindle. Last week, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced his decision to drop out of the race. Following his lead, pharmaceutical industry entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy recently abandoned his efforts to secure the Republican nomination.
The Daily Wire reported that Ramaswamy decided to withdraw from the race on Monday, January 15. He announced his decision while speaking with supporters after Iowans cast their ballots in the nation’s first GOP caucus for the 2024 campaign cycle. He told them that he didn’t think there was a path for him to win the Republican nomination.
Ramaswamy also said he was endorsing Trump for president. He told his supporters that he and the former president were the race’s only “America First” candidates.
The signs of Ramaswamy’s imminent departure have been present all along. His polling average peaked in September when he hit 13%. His campaign has consistently faltered since then, bottoming out at 4.3 points over the weekend.
Voter turnout for the Iowa caucus was low, slightly less than half the number of Republicans casting their ballots than occurred in 2020. As expected, Trump decimated the opposition, receiving 51% of the votes. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received 21.2%; former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley took 19.1%. Ramaswamy managed to surpass his latest polling figures but only scraped up the support of 7.7% of the ballots.
Ironically (or not), Ramaswamy tangled with Trump over the weekend after he posted a photograph of him standing with a group of supporters wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the former president’s mugshot inside the outline of the State of Iowa. The shirts read: “Save Trump — Vote Vivek.”
Roughly an hour later, Trump posted a statement on his Truth Social page accusing Ramaswamy of running a deceptive campaign. Additionally, he claimed Ramaswamy wasn’t a MAGA candidate and warned his supporters that a vote for the businessman was a vote for the opposition.
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