- Vivek Ramaswamy withdraws from the presidential election campaign
- He came a distant fourth in the Iowa caucuses on Monday night
- Ramaswamy said he called former President Donald Trump — and supported him
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the 2024 race after disappointing results in the Iowa caucuses.
confirmed the entrepreneur's exit from the race.
The 38-year-old finished a distant fourth in the caucuses, the country's first contest of 2024, behind former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the former U.N. ambassador. Nikki Haley.
“I think it's true that we didn't manage to pull off the upset we wanted to deliver tonight,” he told fans in Des Moines. “Effective immediately, we are suspending this presidential campaign… There is no way for me to become the next president without things that we don't want to see in this country.”
Ramaswamy called Trump earlier in the evening – and supported the former president, saying an “America First” candidate must be the one to win the White House.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the 2024 race after disappointing results in the Iowa caucuses. He told supporters at an event in Des Moines, Iowa
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is dropping out of the 2024 race after disappointing results in the Iowa caucuses
“And tonight I called Donald Trump to tell him that I congratulate him on his victory. And now, going forward, he will have my full support for the presidency,” Ramaswamy said.
Ramaswamy spent the final hours of his campaign denouncing the media for removing him from the race.
In a post on XRamaswamy shared a Fox News/Associated Press poll that gave respondents only three Republican candidates to choose from — Trump, Haley and DeSantis.
Ramaswamy's spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin also accused The New York Times of listing only Trump, Haley and DeSantis on the paper's Iowa caucus results landing page.
When netizens clicked on the full list of candidates, Ramaswamy's name appeared there.
“Manipulated,” Ramaswamy wrote late Monday afternoon. “Fox & AP just aired a comprehensive voter attitudes survey on the eve of the caucus, which they will be covering on television immediately before the Iowa caucus. This will remove a candidate from the list.'
“Stay with the media and shock the world tonight at the Iowa caucus,” Ramaswamy encouraged his supporters in the Hawkeye State.
But with 95 percent of the votes, Ramaswamy had secured only 7.7 percent of the votes.
Ramaswamy brought millennial energy to the Republican race by rapping for Eminem at the Iowa State Fair and slamming anyone he deemed too “woke.”
He remained consistently complimentary of Trump, but told voters that he represented a next-generation choice for the MAGA movement.
In the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses, the former president warned his supporters not to “waste” their vote on Ramaswamy, even if they liked his message.
On Monday evening, Trump praised Ramaswamy during his victory celebration.
“I also want to congratulate Vivek because he did a great job.” “He came from zero… that's a great job,” Trump said.
Vivek Ramaswamy QUITS OUT: Republican rival withdraws from White House race after finishing fourth in Iowa primary – endorsing Donald Trump